MOSCOW, Aug. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Three people were killed and several others wounded in an overnight shelling in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia, Russian news agency Interfax reported Thursday, citing a Georgian television channel as saying.

    Irina Gagloyeva, head of the South Ossetian Information and Press Committee, said Tskhinvali, the capital of Ossetia, and surrounding Ossetian villages were heavily shelled by Georgians all the previous night.

    "According to preliminary reports, at least 11 people were wounded. These are mainly civilians," Gagloyeva was quoted by Interfax as saying.

    She said the intensive shelling at Tskhinvali stopped in the morning.

    "The intensive shelling at Tskhinvali from the north, in particular from the Georgian villages of Achabet and Tamarasheni, has stopped," Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted her as saying.

    "We can hear only sporadic shots now," she said. "Ossetia has not made an active response so far, only fighting back with small arms."

    Earlier on Thursday, the leadership of self-run South Ossetia issued an ultimatum to Georgia, demanding that it stop the shelling at Tskhinvali within 30 minutes, or they would eliminate the illegal armed groups that had filtered into the conflict zone between South Ossetia and Georgia, according to RIA Novosti.

    Tbilisi, on its part, also accused South Ossetia of firing at Georgian villages located in the region Wednesday night, warning to take a "tough" response.

    "Our response will be tough," Georgian Interior Minister IraklyOkruashvili said.

    "The Ossetian separatists have significantly intensified firingand have begun purposefully firing upon civilians' homes over the past two days," Okruashvili was quoted by Interfax as saying.

    However, he did not elaborate on the measures Tbilisi plans to take.

    Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili hosted an extraordinary meeting with the security and law enforcement chiefs Wednesday night to discuss the situation in South Ossetia, according to Interfax.

    South Ossetia won de facto independence in a separatist war that ended in 1992. It has repeatedly refused to bow to the Georgian government and has sought to become part of Russia.

    A joint peacekeeping contingent composed of Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian troops has been patrolling the Georgian-Ossetian buffer area of conflict.

    Tension has remained high between Tbilisi and South Ossetia since late May over the status of the breakaway region.

    President Saakashvili has vowed to reunify the country by bringing South Ossetia and another rebel region, Abkhazia, back under Tbilisi's control. Enditem