TSKHINVALI. July 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The administration of the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia says Georgia is bringing additional armed forces into the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone.
"Georgia continues to increase its military presence in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict area. Additional Georgian military units have been brought into the Georgian villages of Dirb and Duan, which are located near the South Ossetian border," a representative of the South Ossetian press committee told Interfax on Wednesday.
Citing South Ossetian law enforcement agencies, the source said that "some 100 people wearing gym clothes have assembled in the school of the village of Dirb and are calling themselves athletes." Field kitchens have been deployed in the school yard, he said.
Representatives of Georgia, Russia, South Ossetia, North Ossetia and the OSCE met in Moscow on July 15. All of the parties agreed that a military conflict should be prevented and signed a protocol under which the conflict participants pledged to withdraw all illegal armed units from the area.
South Ossetia is legally a province of Georgia, but a conflict in the 1990s led to its de facto independence. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is attempting to restore control over South Ossetia.