Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry has been following with concern the intensifying tension in the conflict region of South Ossetia, a statement on the ministry's website said on August 8 2008.

"Of particular concern are the messages of civilian casualties in the region and in the town of Tskhinvali," the statement said. The town is the capital of Georgia's breakaway province South Ossetia that seeks closer ties with neighbouring Russia.

The Bulgarian side expected the United Nations Security Council to play its role in ending the bloodshed and solving the problem in compliance with the norms of international law, the statement also read.

Tskhinvali came under heavy fire early on August 8, just hours after Georgia's president declared a cease-fire following days of sporadic fighting, The Herald Tribune, said quoting Reuters and Associated Press.

The Herald Tribune quoted a statement from South Ossetian president Eduard Kokoity, which said that his forces were in combat with Georgian troops on the outskirts of the city. "There is a bitter fight going on and significant damage is inflicted on the enemy," he said.

South Ossetia's leader accused Georgia of treachery, but the Georgian government said that its troops were responding to rebel attacks, news reports said.

The new violence after a week of clashes escalated fears that the confrontation could escalate into an all-out war that might engulf much of the Caucasus region and perhaps draw in Russia, which has close ties with the separatists.

"The assault is coming from all directions" around Tskhinvali, the South Ossetia capital, a brief statement on the separatist government's website read.

In Beijing, China, Russia's prime minister Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying that Georgia's aggression would lead to countermeasures. Media reports claimed that three Russian fighters had entered Georgia's airspace and had bombed the country. Russia has neither denied nor confirmed the allegations.