TBILISI. Oct 22 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze arrived in the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia on Friday to inspect the Georgian battalion of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces.
"In the framework of inspection, the defense minister is checking, in particular, how arrangement of service in the battalion and equipment of Georgian units ensure security of servicemen and contribute to accomplishment of missions in the sphere of local residents protection," a spokesman for the Georgian Defense Ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"The minister considered it necessary to personally study the situation in the battalion, because tensions in the conflict zone had risen again. Two peacekeepers have been killed here and a few others got wounds, including grave ones, in the past few days alone," the spokesman said.
A spokesman for the Joint Peacekeeping Forces command told Interfax-AVN that Baramidze is to meet the forces' commander, Major General Marat Kulakhmetov. "They are planning to discuss a series of issues related to the situation in the region," the spokesman said.
According to the Georgian Defense Ministry, Baramidze is planning to inspect a Georgian peacekeeping unit in Afghanistan next week. Fifty Georgian servicemen have been stationed in Kabul since September.