South Ossetian militiamen detained three Georgian policemen and six civilians near the Ossetian village of Dmenisi in the conflict zone on December 6, according to the Georgian State Minister’s Office for the Conflict Resolution.

This detention follows the arrest of a South Ossetian police official by the Georgian Military Police in the conflict zone on December 5. Viacheslav Kudziev, deputy chief of police in the Ossetian village of Artsevi, was injured in a shootout with a unit from the Georgian Military Police, when the latter tried to arrest him near the Georgian village of Ergneti.

The South Ossetian side has not yet commented on the detention of these Georgians.

Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili condemned the incident while addressing the OSCE Ministerial Council in Ljubljana on December 6.

“This Council, as well as the OSCE community as a whole, must not tolerate these acts and we call for proper reactions on this fact.” Gela Bezhuashvili said.

“The kidnappers belong to the illegal armed formation headed by Nodar Bibilov, the Chief of Dmenisi Ossetian Militia. This information was confirmed by the Joint Peace Keeping Forces deployed in the conflict zone,” he added.