Top Russian officer dies in Georgia blast

MOSCOW (AFP) - A top officer was among eleven people including eight Russian soldiers killed in a car bombing in the Georgian rebel city of Tskhinvali, Russian media reported Saturday, amid conflicting reports on the incident.

The death of Colonel Ivan Petrik, head of the Russian military’s joint staff for the South Ossetia conflict zone, was first reported by Kommersant newspaper and confirmed to Interfax by a spokesman for Russian land forces, Ivan Konashenkov.

South Ossetia, a rebel region of Georgia backed by Russia, was at the centre of an August war between Georgia and Russia.