Cease ..fire!

RUSSIA continued its airstrikes on battered Georgia last night despite seizing control of disputed South Ossetia.

What's current conflict about?

WAR broke out between Russia and Georgia at the weekend — but what’s behind the conflict?

Here The Sun explains:

Q: Where is Georgia? Georgia straddles Asia and Europe, between Turkey and southern Russia.

Q: What is South Ossetia? Officially part of Georgia, the breakaway territory runs its own affairs. The size of Suffolk, it has a population of 70,000 — most of them hold Russian passports.

Q: Why is there a conflict? The South Ossetians want full independence from Georgia but the government wants it to remain part of Georgia. The two went to war in 1991-92 before peacekeepers were sent in. But fighting has continued between separatists and the Georgians.

Q: How did this new war start? Separatists allegedly fired at Georgian peacekeepers. Georgia started to bomb Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia on Friday. Russia responded by sending in tanks and bombing parts of Georgia.

Q: Why does it matter to us? Georgia is pro-Western and has troops in Iraq. The £2billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and gas pipeline passes through Georgia on its way to supplying the West.

Q: What happens next? Georgia say they have pulled their troops out of South Ossetia and Western leaders want the Russians to do the same. But the conflict could spread to another Georgian region, the larger Abkhazia, which also has Russian-backed separatists.

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