Pat Dollard

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Voice Of America:

Georgia’s leader is calling for an immediate cease-fire in the breakaway region of South Ossetia, as reports come in that fighting has spread to another disputed region.

President Mikhail Saakashvili called for an end to the fighting Saturday, shortly before getting approval from the Georgian parliament to declare martial law.

At the same time, officials reported Russian warplanes hit targets in the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

Like South Ossetia, Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s. Georgia has vowed to bring both territories back under central government control.

Georgian soldiers evacuate their base after a Russian bombardment in Gori, 80 km (50 miles) from Tbilisi, August 9, 2008.

Much of Saturday’s fighting has been concentrated around the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, which both Russian and Georgian forces claim to control. Witnesses say all that is left in the city are smoldering ruins, with bodies lying in the streets.

Russian warplanes have tried to stem the flow of Georgian forces into South Ossetia, bombing military and civilian targets in the Georgian town of Gori, not far from the border.

Reports from the area say some bombs have hit homes and apartment buildings, and that civilians have been killed.

Russia confirms two of its planes have been shot down since fighting erupted.

Fighting intensified early Saturday after Russian President Dmitri Medvedev sent more troops to the breakaway region, saying the move was needed to protect civilians and force a cease-fire.

Russian officials say at least 1,500 people have died in the fighting and that more than 30,000 have fled.

Both sides have accused each other of “ethnic cleansing.”

A Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman, Shota Utiashvili, has accused Russia of carrying out airstrikes on Georgian military bases not far from the capital of Tblisi. He also said Russian airplanes bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which is home to key oil shipping facilities.

The Georgian national flag is seen amidst smoke rising from buildings after bombardment in Gori, 80 km (50 miles) from Tbilisi, August 9, 2008. Russia said it had driven Georgian forces from the capital of South Ossetia on Saturday as part of an operation to force Georgia to accept peace in its breakaway region.