Russian military aircraft bombed a road close to Gori, linking west and east Georgia, the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) reported.

The GPB re-transmitted live Reuters footage showing large plumes of smoke rising into the sky from what appeared to be the road outside Gori.

The scale of the damage was not immediately clear.

The GPB reporter in Gori reported that several bombs were also dropped inside the town; there are still no reports on casualties.

Gori, close to breakaway South Ossetia, came under massive aerial attack on August 9. Scores of civilians were killed.

Meanwhile, Temur Iakobashvili, the Georgian state minister for reintegration, said at a news briefing at 3pm local time that “no serious military operation” was ongoing in South Ossetia, in particular in around Tskhinvali.

Georgian forces pulled out from Tskhinvali in the early hours of August 10.

Iakobashvili, however, said it was a tactical move to re-group Georgian troops in order to better position them.

“’Retreat’ or ‘defeat’ are not appropriate words to describe the Georgian forces’ maneuvers,” Iakobashvili said. “We are not going to retreat.”