TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Georgia on Tuesday angrily accused Russia of sending combat aircraft to raid its territory for the second day in a row - a claim that was quickly denied by the Russian military, which says Georgia allows Chechen rebels to operate from its soil.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that two Russian aircraft crossed into Georgian airspace overnight Tuesday and bombed the mountains on the border with Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya.
Georgian officials said a Russian helicopter attack early Monday killed several sheep. They were still examining the area for possible damage after Tuesday's raid.
The Foreign Ministry said the Russian attacks amounted to an "aggression against a sovereign neighbor state."
The ministry accused "certain forces in Russia" of trying to foment tension by making anti-Georgian statements and launching air raids.
Russian Air Force spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky denied Georgia's claim, saying no Russian aircraft had violated Georgian airspace while attacking targets in southern Chechnya, the Interfax-Military News Agency reported.
Georgia has made such accusations on several occasions in recent years, and Russia has always denied the claims.
Russian officials this week accused Georgia of letting a group of Chechen rebels cross into Chechnya unimpeded. They said at least seven Russian border guards have died fighting that group in southern Chechnya since Saturday.
On Tuesday, the Federal Border Guards Service said four rebels were killed in the area Tuesday, adding to at least nine killed since Saturday, according to Interfax.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Monday that the incursion proved Georgian authorities were unable to deal with the fighters holed up in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge and renewed Moscow's call for a Russian military operation on Georgian territory.
Sergei Yastrzhembsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Echo of Moscow radio Tuesday that Georgia's inability to cope with the rebels "definitely threatens Russia's security."
Officials in former Soviet Georgia have dismissed previous Russian demands to let its forces in. However, they have accepted assistance from the United States, which sent instructors to give anti-terrorism training to Georgian troops. Washington says militants linked with Osama bin-Laden's al-Qaida network have hidden in Georgia's lawless Pankisi Gorge.