Monitors confirm Russian attack on Georgia

Georgia accused Russia of an "explicit act of aggression" yesterday, saying it had launched its fifth bombing raid on Georgian territory in a month. At least one civilian died and seven were injured as a result of the 40-minute raid on the Pankisi gorge area, it said.

Moscow's defence minister, Sergei Ivanov, denied the claim, despite independent confirmation that aircraft had flown into Georgia from the direction of Russia and apparently dropped bombs.

The incident brought the two former Soviet republics the closest to open conflict since Georgia accused Moscow early this month of bombing the Pankisi gorge, in the mountainous border region, where fighters from Chechnya are reported to have taken refuge in large numbers.

The Georgian president, Eduard Shevardnadze, declared that he would "use all methods to stop such bombings".

"It's time Russia stopped targeting Georgian villages, and if the president's military doesn't obey him, it's his problem," he said. The foreign minister, Irakly Menagarishvili, called it "explicit aggression on Russia's part".

Ten military helicopters are reported to have entered the gorge at 5.20am and dropped a number of bombs, killing one villager. Seven people were injured.

The incident was the first to be independently verified by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has observers in the gorge.

Its spokesman said troops on a night patrol near the village of Girevi had seen numerous unidentified objects one mile south of the border, in Georgian territory. They headed further south and dropped what appeared to be explosives 25 miles inside Georgia, before disappearing.

The Russian military said the casualties and subsequent accusations were the result of errors by Georgian special forces.

But Mr Ivanov repeated the allegation that "large numbers" of Chechen terrorists were using the gorge as their base. Moscow has been increasingly bellicose, threatening to suppress "terrorists" in the gorge, if Georgia does not do so.