Rights group: Both sides hurt Georgians

TBILISI, Georgia, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Human Rights Watch said Thursday reports indicate Russian and Georgian troops appeared to have killed and injured citizens caught between the warring sides.

"Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian forces all have an obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians from attack," Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a release. "The latest information on civilian casualties in Gori, Tskhinvali and surrounding areas calls into question whether the forces are respecting that obligation."

Cartner said HRW received reports of indiscriminate attacks on the towns of Gori in Georgia and Tskhinvali in South Ossetia, where the confrontation began Aug. 7 when Georgian forces tried to establish control in the breakaway republic, only to be overwhelmed by Russian forces.