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Food aid heads in to tense Georgian region
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 | No comments posted.
IGOETI, Georgia (AP) — A convoy of badly needed food aid for beleaguered Georgians rumbled through a Russian checkpoint today, waved through by soldiers who themselves showed no signs of fulfilling their president’s promise of a pullback within two days.
The Igoeti checkpoint about 30 miles west of the capital, Tbilisi, is one of the deepest Russian penetrations into Georgia since fighting broke out in a Russian-backed separatist region of the country nearly two weeks ago.
Under a cease-fire agreement, Russian and Georgian forces are supposed to pull back to positions they held before the fighting in South Ossetia started.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said his troops will complete the withdrawal by Friday, but few signs of movement have been seen other than the departure of a small portion of the troops who have held the strategically key city of Gori, another 25 miles west of Igoeti.
The Russian seizure of Gori and villages in the region has left thousands of people with scarce and uncertain food supplies. The nine flatbed trucks carrying aid from the U.N.’s World Food Program could last for a few days.
The Russian forces in Georgia appear to be aiming to weaken Georgia’s military through the detention of personnel and destruction of equipment before they withdraw as promised.
The Igoeti checkpoint about 30 miles west of the capital, Tbilisi, is one of the deepest Russian penetrations into Georgia since fighting broke out in a Russian-backed separatist region of the country nearly two weeks ago.
Under a cease-fire agreement, Russian and Georgian forces are supposed to pull back to positions they held before the fighting in South Ossetia started.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said his troops will complete the withdrawal by Friday, but few signs of movement have been seen other than the departure of a small portion of the troops who have held the strategically key city of Gori, another 25 miles west of Igoeti.
The Russian seizure of Gori and villages in the region has left thousands of people with scarce and uncertain food supplies. The nine flatbed trucks carrying aid from the U.N.’s World Food Program could last for a few days.
The Russian forces in Georgia appear to be aiming to weaken Georgia’s military through the detention of personnel and destruction of equipment before they withdraw as promised.
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