OneWorld.net (U.S.)

OneWorld.net note: Journalist Rena Effendi narrates a series of photographs she took of war weary refugees, devastated homes, and Russian troops as she travelled through the Georgian cities of Gori and Tskhinvali since the conflict began.

• Lali Jojishvili, 61, was displaced from Vanati, a village in the Gori region. © Nina Akhmeteli/EurasiaNet.orgApproximately 160,000 people have fled their homes since fighting broke out in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia earlier this month, says the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Over 25 percent of these displaced people used to live in Gori, a strategic Georgian city near the South Ossetian border. Tskhinvali is the capital of South Ossetia.

• Numerous humanitarian groups are responding to the diverse needs of Georgian refugees, but the international community must also deploy a civilian protection force and a fact-finding mission to investigate evidence of unlawful use of force by all parties to the conflict, said a human rights watchdog this Sunday.

• "The breakup of the Soviet Union provided the opportunity for two regions within Georgia to flex their own muscles," writes OneWorld UK in its country guide on Georgia. "Conflicts between the Georgian Army and armed groups of separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia have resulted in deaths of thousands of people and displaced more than 300,000 civilians." Although a fragile peace was established in 1992, Russia has continued to support Georgia's separatist regions and tensions between the two countries have remained high, explains OneWorld UK volunteer editor Misha Kechakmadze.

• EurasiaNet.org has closely followed the development of the conflict between Georgia and Russia. Click here to visit EurasiaNet.org's archive of stories on Georgia.

Conflict in Georgia

Gori & Tskhinvali

From: EurasiaNet.org

EurasiaNet contributing photographer Rena Effendi was among a group of journalists who managed to visit the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. There, she encountered scenes of devastation. This photo slideshow contains a selection of Effendi's images taken in Tskhinvali, Gori and villages in between since the start of the Russian incursion into Georgia on August 8.

Click here to view the audio slideshow.