Georgia withdrew its troops from South Ossetia after pouring in tanks and soldiers in a show of force aimed at winning control over the separatist pro-Russia republic. The maneuvers, the first of their kind, prompted a furious reaction from Moscow and highlighted how far tensions have escalated in a strategic region that has seen several bloody conflicts since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. "We have withdrawn from the positions that we took earlier and they are now being patrolled by peacekeepers," said Givi Yukuridze, chief of staff of the Georgian army. The move "shows the sincere intentions of the Georgian leadership to establish peace in the region," Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. But Interior Minister Irakli Okruashvili warned that Tbilisi would not hesitate to send troops back to South Ossetia if villages populated by ethnic Georgians in the breakaway region were to come under attack. "If civilians in Georgian villages come under threat again, we will come back to Ossetia in 15 minutes and... we will go straight to (the Ossetian capital) Tskhinvali," Okruashvili told Georgian television. However, the South Ossetian interior ministry said early Friday that some Georgian troops remained in Ossetia, although they were being withdrawn. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had said earlier Thursday his country was poised to strike further into South Ossetia but would prefer to withdraw its troops and begin political negotiations. It was his first direct admission of the presence of his military in South Ossetia proper, rather than in a peacekeeping zone that is also patrolled by Russian and South Ossetian troops. Following intense fighting, Georgian forces Thursday conquered strategic heights near Ossetia's capital Tskhinvali. However, Tbilisi later pulled out its troops, which were replaced by Russian peacekeepers. "We have withdrawn from the positions that we had earlier seized and they are now being patrolled by peacekeeping forces," the head of the Georgian general staff, Givi Yukuridze, told Georgian television. Saakashvili had earlier said he was prepared to relinquish the heights to peacekeeping forces and to pull back Georgian troops. Tbilisi's offensive on South Ossetia infuriated Russia, which supports the breakaway republic. "Georgia must understand that such actions are inadmissible," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "The chance of getting off this dangerous, opportunistic course is running out," it said. Talks between Georgia, Russia and South Ossetia -- which has ethnic links to North Ossetia, a republic within Russia -- have been launched at various levels but so far failed to produce any results. The 36-year-old Georgian leader has been backed by the West in his drive to reassert control over the whole of his splintered, impoverished country. The dispute has become a major sore point in relations between Georgia and Russia, which seeks to retain its historic influence in the volatile Caucasus and eyes US intentions in its own strategic backyard with deep suspicion. Meanwhile reports of dead and wounded in the latest round of fighting Thursday fluctuated throughout the day. Georgian officials announced that three Georgian servicemen had been killed and 10 wounded. South Ossetian officials said four South Ossetian civilians had died in the fighting. A Georgian official also said eight Cossacks -- ethnic Russians who have fought wars in the Caucasus since Tsarist times -- fighting in the ranks of the rebel forces had been killed. South Ossetian officials denied that claim. South Ossetia falls within Georgian borders but is inhabited mainly by ethnic Ossetians. The adjacent province of North Ossetia, also dominated by Ossetians, is part of Russia. South Ossetia has demanded either independence or rule from Moscow. Saakashvili, a US-trained lawyer elected president in January after leading a bloodless revolution that forced the resignation of his predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze, has vowed to restore the unity of Georgia. In June, he successfully brought another pro-Russian breakaway region, Adjara, back under the authority of Tbilisi and forced its independence-minded leader to flee to exile in Moscow. But that move, and the current campaign in South Ossetia, has stoked anger among Russian nationalists, who believe their country has a right to some measure of control over parts of Georgia. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A bus passes Russian peacekeepers at a checkpoint in South Ossetia. (AFP)