MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti) -- Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, came under a mortar attack from the Georgian village of Nikozi, the commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Force in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict said Wednesday.
"At this stage, I can only indicate the direction from which the mortar attack came. It is the village of Nikozi, which is populated mainly by Georgians. Nikozi is just a direction so this does not necessarily mean it was Georgians who fired the shells," Marat Kulakhmetov said.
Kulakhmetov said the Georgian and Ossetian sides investigate such incidents, but, in the interest of greater objectivity, they are inviting peacekeepers and OSCE representatives to participate in the investigation, which is underway.
"Three 120-mm shells exploded in Tskhinvali at about 7.15 p.m. Moscow time [4:15 GMT], wounding 10 people. Three of them are in critical condition," Kulakhmetov said.
Georgia has denied any involvement in the shelling.
