Banned antiaircraft gun found in Georgia-S.Ossetia conflict zone

TBILISI, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - A 23-mm antiaircraft gun, banned under a ceasefire and disengagement agreement, has been discovered in a conflict zone between Georgia and its breakaway province of South Ossetia, the Georgian Defense Ministry said Thursday.

It said the gun, a ZU-23-2 towed short-range air defense cannon, was found in a South Ossetia-controlled village by a team of Georgian, Russian and South Ossetian monitors and observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"The members of the monitoring group were not allowed to approach the antiaircraft cannon and confiscate it," the ministry said. "Servicemen of an unofficial South Ossetian armed unit, the so called home guards, offered armed resistance."

It also said the Russian side had taken no action to enable the military observers to perform their functions and confiscate the illegal weapon.