MOSCOW, September 3 (RIA Novosti) - South Ossetia, a self-proclaimed republic within Georgia, said Sunday it downed a Georgian helicopter for allegedly violating its air space.
"A helicopter of the Georgian Interior Ministry violated the air space of the Republic of South Ossetia. The helicopter's pilots did not respond to numerous proposals to land or change the route. Taking into account that the violations of the South Ossetia air space by Georgia have become wide spread, a decision was made to shoot down the helicopter," said Irina Gagloyeva, head of the breakaway republic's press and information committee.
Gagloyeva said she had no information about the pilots' health.
"The incident has been reported to the OSCE mission and Russian peacekeepers," she said.
