No casualties in shootout in Georgia-S. Ossetia conflict zone
09/09/2006 12:33 TBILISI, September 9 (RIA Novosti) - Georgian police and army units in the republic's breakaway region of South Ossetia have engaged in an exchange of fire near a checkpoint to the south of Tskhinvali, the commander of a Georgian peacekeeping battalion said Saturday.
Paata Dedianashvili said there were no casualties on the Georgian side.
Marat Kulakhmetov, the commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Force, confirmed the shootout.
Four people were killed Friday in a shootout near the Ossetian village of Tbet.
A Russian Foreign Ministry official said the shootout would be discussed at the next meeting of the Joint Control Commission.
"I believe that the latest incidents in South Ossetia - the downing of a Georgian helicopter Sunday and today's shootout in the conflict zone - mean that an early meeting of the Joint Control Commission has to be called," said Yury Popov, a special envoy to the area.
He said the next JCC meeting would be held on September 14-15 in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, adding that the incidents would also be discussed at his bilateral consultations with Merab Antadze, Georgia's state minister for conflict resolution.
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