New battle in Georgian rebel region, fears of war
(Updates with Russian deputy minister; details)
By Margarita Antidze
MEGVREKISI, Georgia, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Heavy fighting erupted between Georgian forces and separatists in breakaway South Ossetia on Thursday, following nearly a week of clashes that have deepened fears of full-blown war in the Caucasus.
Loud explosions and automatic gunfire could be heard from villages around the breakaway capital Tskhinvali, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of the Georgian capital Tbilisi towards the mountainous Russian border.
A security source said Georgian special police units and the 5th mechanised army brigade had been moved to the town of Gori, on the doorstep of South Ossetia.
A military field hospital was being set up on the main road and buses filled with Georgian soldiers stood in convoy.
Russia said Georgia was readying for war, a charge Tbilisi denied. Some frightened locals said they were leaving for Gori.
"We urge the Georgian leadership to show common sense and stop irresponsible military activities in South Ossetia," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told the Interfax news agency.
"We view the situation as extremely dangerous. It has indeed reached a stage of unprecedented drama," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying.
Fifteen years since South Ossetia and the Black Sea region of Abkhazia fought to break away from Georgian rule, soaring tensions and increasingly intense clashes have raised the spectre of full-blown conflict.
The two regions enjoy the political and financial backing of Moscow, which has peacekeepers in both, but Georgia's pro-Western leadership has pledged to restore Georgian control over its entire territory and steer the country towards NATO membership.
"WAR PREPARATIONS"
Russia and the West are vying for influence over the region, which is home to vital energy transit routes.
"Confrontation is not in Georgia's interests and I hope and I'm sure that the continuation of confrontation is not in Russia's interests either," Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told reporters during a brief visit to Gori.
The Georgian Interior Ministry told Reuters that separatists were trying to attack the Tbilisi-controlled village of Avnevi in South Ossetia and had destroyed a Georgian armoured personnel carrier (APC). Three soldiers were wounded.
"They (the separatists) are trying to attack Avnevi. The fighting is ongoing," said spokesman Shota Utiashvili.
Official separatist web site www. cominf.org said Georgians were shelling the village of Khetagurovo from Avnevi. "Guns from APCs, mortars and machine-guns are being used," the site said.
The separatists said 18 people were wounded overnight in what they described as heavy artillery bombardment of Tskhinvali and separatist-controlled villages.
Washington has urged calm but Moscow has said it would not remain indifferent if violence on its border escalated.
"Concern was expressed that the action of the Georgian side around Tskhinvali can be regarded as war preparations," the foreign ministry said after a telephone conversation between Karasin and South Ossetia leader, Eduard Kokoity.
A senior Georgian minister travelled to South Ossetia for talks with the separatists at a Russian peacekeeping base but left at the end of the day with no sign of progress. (Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Tbilisi, James Kilner and Oleg Shchedrov in Moscow; writing by Matt Robinson; editing by Jon Boyle)
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