Russia: Georgia behind South Ossetia blast

TSKHINVALI , Georgia, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Georgia Saturday denied it was behind a blast that killed seven Russian soldiers in the capital of the breakaway state of South Ossetia.

Georgian officials said Russia blamed them for the explosion as a way to delay withdrawing troops from the buffer zone near South Ossetia, RIA Novosti reported.

Friday's explosion in Tskhinvali killed seven and seriously injured four other Russian soldiers at a Russian military command post, RIA Novosti reported.

Russian investigators suspect Georgian special forces planted a car bomb to further destabilize the area, said Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigation Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office.

In August, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent of Georgia, two weeks after Russia forced Georgian troops from South Ossetia.