Occupation forces conduct census in occupied Akhalgori district
De facto Tskhinvali government is demanding the removal of a police post from Tbilisi-controlled territory, located near the occupation line, in exchange for opening crossing points to Akhalgori district. Photo: Erik Hoeg.
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The Russian controlled occupation forces are conducting a census in the occupied Akhalgori district, the Democracy Research Institute NGO says.
The NGO states that people dressed in military uniform, allegedly the employees of the Russian security agency, are conducting the census in the district which was occupied by Russia during the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
Since September 4 the crossing points leading to the district, inhabited mainly by ethnic Georgians, have been closed, creating a severe humanitarian situation on the ground.
The NGO says that Russians also brought food supplies into the district. However, locals do not know whether the food ‘is only for those with South Ossetian passports or for everyone.”
Locals also do not know the reason the census is being conducted, the NGO says.
The de facto leadership of Georgia’s Russian occupied region of Abkhazia announced today that the closure of the so-called border between the region and the rest of the country has been abolished.
Occupation forces have refused to dismantle two illegal ‘police-posts’ arranged on Tbilisi-administered territory and declined to open a so-called checkpoint to the Akhalgori district, where the local population is on the verge of humanitarian catastrophe.
The de facto Tskhinvali government has announced the closure of two crossing points with the rest of Georgia, saying the reason is an ‘escalation of tension at certain sections of the border with Georgia.’The so-called security committee of Tskhinvali has accused Tbilisi of sparking the tension, stating that the crossing points will reopen when the tension fades.
The de facto government of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region is clearing a road to a new ‘police checkpoint’ in the village of Tsnelisi, Kareli municipality of Georgia, at an altitude of 944 meters.