The Great War for Oil has begun.
Georgia declares state of war
Published: Saturday 09 August 2008 12:41 UTC
Last updated: Saturday 09 August 2008 14:07 UTC
In Georgia, President Mikheil Saakashvili has declared a state of war. The emergency will remain in force for 15 days and give both the president and the army leaders more scope in the breakaway region of South Ossetia, where heavy fighting between Georgian and Russian troops has been underway since Friday.
It now looks likely that the fighting will spread to Abkhazia, another breakaway province of Georgia. Georgian television is reporting that Russian fighter jets have bombed two villages there. Abkhazian rebels are reporting that they have begun an offensive against Georgian troops in the region.
US President George W Bush has expressed his grave concerns about what he called "a dangerous escalation of the crisis". He has talked on the telephone with both President Saakashvili and President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia and asked them to suspend hostilities.
The Russian government is claiming that more than 1,500 people have died and that more than 30,000 South Ossetians have fled the fighting.
Abkhazia launches operation to force Georgian troops out August 9th, 2008 - 9:17 pm ICT by IANS
Moscow, Aug 9 (Xinhua) The armed forces of Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region have begun an operation to force Georgian troops out of the upper part of the Kodori gorge, the Itar-Tass news agency quoted foreign minister of the self-proclaimed republic Sergei Shamba as saying Saturday. Abkhazia’s artillery and air force carried out strikes against Georgian troops in the gorge, the report said.
In a separate report by Interfax news agency, Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh confirmed its “aviation is currently conducting an operation in the upper part of the Kodori gorge of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia.” He added that the operation would continue.
The regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from Georgia in the 1990s following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. But their self-proclaimed independence has not been internationally recognized. Xinhua