Georgia begins pulling out forces from Iraq: US military

BAGHDAD - Georgia's 2,000 strong contingent in Iraq began to return home on Sunday to redeploy in the conflict in its breakaway province of South Ossetia, a US military spokesman said.
‘Flights have in fact begun today and Georgian forces are redeploying,’ US military press spokesman Major John Hall told AFP.
‘We are supporting the Georgian military units that are in Iraq in their redeployment to Georgia so that they can support requirements there during the current security situation.’
The departure of the soldiers from Georgia -- the third largest contributor to coalition forces in Iraq after the United States and Britain -- will mean some adjustments for the US military.
‘We had already been shuffling forces around in Wassit province before the recent events, so despite the loss of the Georgian units, although unexpected, we can and are accommodating the changes,’ said Hall.
Russia and Georgia were locked Sunday in an escalating battle over South Ossetia which may have already claimed over 2,000 lives amid fears it is spreading to other parts of the volatile Caucasus region.
In and around a pro-Moscow region in the west of the country, Abkhazia, the separatist government there had declared a state of war in areas of the province populated by Georgians.