Car Bomb Blast Kills 7 Russian Soldiers In South Ossetia

Moscow, Russia (AHN) - A car bomb exploded Friday near the base of Russian troops in South Ossetia, Georgia's breakaway province, killing seven soldiers and wounding seven more. Russia and Georgia accused each other of being responsible for the attack.

Officials in South Ossetia said the car belonged to Georgian citizens and was seized by Russian troops for containing weapons before it exploded in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.

"The ministry of defence sees the accident as a terrorist attack aimed at undermining the application" of the peace agreement," the Russian defence ministry said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Georgia and Russia have signed a European Union-brokered peace deal on Sept. 8 to stop a war over South Ossetia that erupted on Aug. 8, when Georgian forces invaded the separatist region and Russian troops came to the aid of its neighbor.

"This was an attack planned by the Georgian Ministry of National Security," AFP quoted South Ossetia leader Eduard Kokoity as saying.

Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashivili denied both accusations and called the incident an alibi to keep Russian forces in Georgia. Russia is keeping troops in buffer zones around South Ossetia and the other breakaway province of Abkhazia until Oct. 10 to protect them from possible Georgian attacks.