Georgian official says forces have shot down 2 Russian aircraft.
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MOSCOW — Georgian government forces launched an effort to seize Russian-backed South Ossetia on Friday in a military assault that threatens to involve neighboring Russia into all-out war.
After a day of skirmishes, Georgian forces launched missile and artillery strikes late Thursday and early Friday, followed by a combined push of infantry and tank units aimed at capturing the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali.
By Friday afternoon, the parliament, a university building and the main hospital in Tskhinvali were partly destroyed or ablaze, according to South Ossetian officials and Russian state media. Various reports put the number of people killed at 15 or more, and the commander of Russian peacekeepers in the area told state media that he had lost men.