Official: Ossetian militants enter Georgia village

(PARIS) Georgian officials say about 70 militants from the breakaway province of South Ossetia illegally entered a village in Georgia.

Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for Georgia's Interior Ministry, said Sunday that the armed militants began to enter Perevi, a village of about 1,000 people, on Saturday. It sits on the western border of the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

The European Union's observer mission in Georgia voiced concern about the situation, saying the move could exacerbate tensions in the area.

South Ossetia's separatist leader, Eduard Kokoity, said that part of the village is located in South Ossetia and its forces legitimately entered it, the Interfax news agency reported.

Utiashvili said that the gunmen had not attacked civilians, but some of the village residents fled fearing violence. He said that Georgian authorities have protested the intrusion to the European Union observers who are deployed in Georgia to monitor a French-brokered truce that ended Russia's war with Georgia in August.

The EU observer mission said in a statement that the presence of South Ossetian forces in the village would "further exacerbate tensions to the detriment of the civilian population."