On Wednesday, separatist fighters and Russian troops looted and set homes ablaze in Georgian territory amid fears over a fragile ceasefire that ended five days of bitter conflict.

The AFP reports that, “despite a French-brokered truce agreed Tuesday by the leaders of the two countries, Russia faced mounting criticism in the West for its military offensive. Russian armored vehicles patrolled Gori, the flashpoint Georgian town between the capital and South Ossetia, the breakaway region at the center of the conflict.

Hundreds of Russian army personnel and South Ossetian rebels went house-to-house in villages near Gori. Witnesses said, they set houses ablaze and looted buildings.

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Watch group said its researchers in south Ossetia had “witnessed terrifying scenes of destruction in four villages that used to be populated exclusively by ethnic Georgians.

According to the AFP, about 60 tanks, armored personnel carriers and other vehicles were seen on the road leading east from Gori to the capital. An AFP reporter saw Russian troops shouting: “Tbilisi, Tbilisi” but their destination was unclear.”

The Russian deputy chief of staff, General Anatoly Nogovitsyn denied any Russian forces were headed to Tbilisi. The Georgian government also said it did not believe the convoy was headed fro Tbilisi, though President Mikhail Saakashvilli told CNN television he believed Russia wanted to surround the capital.

To read the entire article from the AFP, link here:

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