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Russians Leave, Then Return to Seized Georgian City
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The two separatist zones seized de facto independence by force of arms in the early 1990s. Last week the Georgian army stormed South Ossetia to try to take it back, but were quickly repelled by Russian forces that then advanced far into undisputed Georgian territory.
Reports from Sukhumi, capital of the other disputed region, Abkhazia, said residents were celebrating after Russian-backed separatists this week took Kodori Gorge, part of which was the only sliver of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia.
Kutalia said the death toll among Georgian service members was 160, with 300 still missing. Georgia has an army of 32,000. Approximately 100,000 people -- Georgians and South Ossetians -- have been displaced by the past week's fighting.
Two more air shipments of U.S. humanitarian aid arrived in Georgia. Some of the supplies were allowed into Gori, Lomaia said.
The Georgian capital, Tbilisi, was calmer Thursday as residents took food and clothing to shelters that had been set up in schools and other public buildings to accommodate the stream of ethnic Georgian refugees.
In an old printing house turned into a shelter, Spiridon Mamisashvili, 62, said he had stayed in his town, Eredwi, in South Ossetia to take care of his cattle. But on Wednesday, masked militia rounded up seven of his neighbors and shot them as Mamisashvili watched from a hiding place in his garden.
"They were telling us that they were not going to kill the old people, but now they are killing the old people, too," he said. After walking all night through a valley, he reached Gori on Thursday morning and from there found a ride to Tbilisi.
Shorena Lakhashvili, 28, said she had been in the shelter for four days, since retreating Georgian troops had warned her to leave her town in South Ossetia. She said her father was missing and mobile phone access to the region had been jammed.
Correspondent Peter Finn in Egoeti contributed to this report.
