Saakashvili: 90 pct of Georgian casualties civilian

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Monday 90 percent of his country’s casualties in the conflict with Russia over South Ossetia were civilian.

“Our losses our mainly civilian. Ninety percent of our casualties are civilian,” Saakashvili told reporters on a conference call.

He said Russian tanks were repelled five kilometers from the Georgian city of Gori, which is about 50 km from the South Ossetian capital Tshkinvali.

“They were five kilometers from Gori. They were repelled and now they are 20 kilometers away,” he said.