MOSCOW, October 3 (RIA Novosti) - At least seven Russian peacekeepers were killed and three wounded Friday when a car bomb exploded near the HQ of a peacekeeping battalion in Tsikhinvali, a South Ossetian spokesman said.
"A UAZ car was parked next to the building," a spokesman for the breakaway Georgian republic's information and press committee said. "The blast seriously damaged the building and shattered window panes in neighboring houses within a 500 m radius."
According to the spokesman, the vehicle was transported to the capital after being removed from a village in one of the buffer zones currently controlled by Russian peacekeepers following the brief military conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia in August.
The official said six people had been killed in the blast and one person had died from injuries in a local hospital.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said the explosion in breakaway South Ossetia that killed seven peacekeepers on Friday was a terrorist act designed to destabilize the region.
"This crime shows that certain forces are seeking to destabilize the situation and prevent efforts to restore peace and security in the region," an unidentified Russian diplomat said, urging measures to deter further "provocative acts" in South Ossetia and Georgia's other breakaway territory, Abkhazia.
Georgia has denied any involvement in the car bomb explosion in Tskhinvali.
"We have not heard anything about an explosion in Tskhinvali," said Shota Utiashvili, a spokesperson for Georgia's Interior Ministry.
Meanwhile, the head of the Leninigorski district in South Ossetia, Anatoly Margiyev, reportedly escaped an alleged attempt on his life when a roadside bomb exploded near his car on Friday.
"Margiyev was in his car, when an Ural truck, which was behind his vehicle, was blown up in a roadside explosion," Emergencies Ministry spokesman Inal Pliyev said. "The driver of the truck and a passenger were wounded and received medical treatment."
The vehicle convoy was heading to Tskhinvali to collect humanitarian supplies.
Pliyev said that Margiyev had received a number of death threats in the past, demanding that he quit his post.
Local police have launched an investigation into the suspected assassination attempt.
