Georgian forces have been fighting russian troops for control of South Ossetia, a pro-Moscow enclave. But after three days of attacks, the withdrawal of Georgian troops has been announced.

Georgian forces pulled out of the breakaway South Ossetia region yesterday after three days of fighting and Russia said its troops controlled most of the separatist capital Tskhinvali. A Georgian convoy of troops and artillery left South Ossetia through Ergneti, a village just inside Georgian-held territory south of Tskhinvali. ?They have been withdrawn, completely,? Georgian interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told Reuters.

In Moscow, the Russian General Staff?s Col-Gen Anatoly Nagovitsyn confirmed the withdrawal was underway. He also told an official news briefing that Russian soldiers now controlled most of Tskhinvali. Russia, the South Ossetian separatists? main backer, had poured troops into the enclave and launched air strikes inside Georgia in response to a Georgian push to take control of it.

Russian officials said the death toll in fighting that began on Thursday stood at 2,000. Georgia said on Friday that it had lost up to 300 people killed, mainly civilians. The conflict in the heart of the Caucasus has raised alarm in the West, which is vying for influence with Russia over crucial oil and gas supply routes in the region. Russia is rankled by Georgia?s pro-Western policies and its drive for NATO membership.

Georgian spokesman Utiashvili said yesterday that in the past few hours Russia had brought 6,000 troops into Georgia and a further 4,000 troops by sea. Russia bombed a military airfield outside the Georgian capital early yesterday and Tbilisi said the Russians were also massing troops in Abkhazia on the Black Sea, another rebel region that broke with Tbilisi in the early 1990s after a war.

Russian warships had arrived at Georgia?s Black Sea coast, RIA news agency quoted a Russian navy source as saying. Interfax agency said the naval force would stop weapons landing by sea. But RIA-Novosti news agency quoted a defense source as saying Russia had no plans to mount a blockade. ?A naval blockade means war with Georgia,? the source told RIA. «We are not at war with Georgia.? Russia?s Nagovitsyn also denied Russian forces had hit any civilian targets during air raids and said they had only struck military units. ?The Russian side has not hit any settlements...We have no right to attack civilian positions,? he said.

Georgia said that overnight, Russia had landed 4,000 troops by sea in Abkhazia.