Georgia says working to "neutralise" separatists

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's military is working to "neutralise" rebel forces it said were attacking villages in breakaway South Ossetia after a short-lived ceasefire collapsed, a senior Georgian official said on Friday.

"We have an operation under way to neutralise separatist positions from which they are shelling Georgian villages," the official told Reuters.

Georgia's government said in a statement it had been forced to take "adequate measures" to protect civilians in the region.

The statement said there were indications of civilian casualties in Georgian villages after fighting erupted around the breakaway capital, Tskhinvali.

(Reporting by Matt Robinson; Editing by Andrew Dobbie)