Moscow - South Ossetia has appealed to its ally Russia for military aid in violent fighting with Georgian troops who surrounded the capital Friday.

"Heavy fighting in and around Tskhinvali is ongoing," the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee reported. "The people of South Ossetia request the president and the leadership of the Russian Federation to help and to undertake measures to protect its citizens."

Most residents in South Ossetia and Georgia's other breakaway region have been issued Russian passports as Moscow stepped up ties with the rebel governments in recent years, angering Tbilisi.

Helsinki - Finland, current chair of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), expressed "serious concern" over the situation in South Ossetia in Georgia.

New York - The UN Security Council met in emergency session to discuss the escalation of violence in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia.

Russia, which is closely allied with South Ossetia, called the meeting, which began late Thursday in New York. Its ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, accused Georgia of aggressive behaviour toward the breakaway region.

While the meeting was taking place, the Georgian government and South Ossetia separatists deployed fighter jets to carry out bombings on one another Friday after a ceasefire declared by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was broken after a few hours, a news report said.

Moscow/ Tbilisi, Georgia - The Georgian government and separatists in its region of South Ossetia deployed fighter jets to carry out bombings on one another Friday after a ceasefire declared by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was broken after a few hours, a news report said.

Many civilians were killed in the airstrikes, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing South Ossetia's Health Ministry.

The South Ossetia side for the first time deployed two Suchoi SU-25 fighter jets to bomb Georgian positions, and a short time later, Georgia sent five of the same jets to carry out attacks in South Ossetia, Interfax said.

Brussels - European Union chief foreign policy adviser Javier Solana spoke Thursday with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili Thursday about the worsening situation in South Ossetia in Georgia.

In a statement issued by Solana Thursday evening in Brussels, he said he had expressed his "serious concern" about the situation. He urged the president to do everything in his power to quickly end the violence and open peaceful discussion between the conflicting parties.

Moscow/Gali, Georgia - Georgia's rebel region of Abkhazia on Friday rejected as "unacceptable" an international peace plan for calming escalating tensions in the region.