TBILISI -- Georgian government forces claimed a major success on the ground Wednesday by taking the city of Senaki back from the rebels, but they also admitted a major mistake in the air when they accidentally bombed a Russian border post.
The mix-up came as Georgian troops stepped up their offensive against legions loyal to ousted President Zviad Gamsakhurdia in the west of the country.
In the heat of a battle between troops loyal to Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze and rebels fighting for Gamsakhurdia, the government made a decision to use attack aircraft to bolster its tanks and its ground forces.
But an air strike mistakenly targeted a Russian outpost that found itself in the middle of the warring sides.
Georgian authorities admitted the attack was a mistake and apologized for the incident, which injured several Russian soldiers including the outpost commander.
Accounts of the incident indicated the Georgian government forces mistakenly believed they had targeted Gamsakhurdia's units when their attack aircraft fired at the Russian post.
Shevardnadze, who has alternately appealed to Russia for help and blamed Russia for siding with enemy, expressed regret at what was described as a case of 'mistaken identity.'
Georgian troops added Senaki to their growing list of west Georgian towns taken back from the rebels who had controlled virtually all of the province of Mingrelia but are now losing it town by town.
Government officials said the fight over Senaki caused many casualties but they gave no numbers.
They said the rebels looted the town before they were routed.
Senaki is one of several key transportation junctions, although rail lines and bridges have been damaged in the civil war. Thus even with the key Black Sea port of Poti back in government hands, delivery of supplies has not been restored.
In the capital Tbilisi, some one -- no one knows on which side of the conflict -- blew up the building housing Georgia's monarchist party, the Union of Georgian Traditionalists, which had managed to stay on the sidelines of the country's violent conflict.
