'Hundreds of dead civilians' says South Ossetia leader

Moscow: The leader of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia said on Friday that hundreds of civilians had died in fighting in the capital Tskhinvali, which has been the focus of a daylong battle between separatist forces and the Georgian military.

"In Tskhinvali there are hundreds of dead civilians," the president of the unrecognised republic, Eduard Kokoity, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.