MOSCOW - A car bomb in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali on Friday killed seven Russian peacekeepers and wounded three others, raising tensions in the separatist enclave days before a scheduled pullback of Russian troops from Georgian territory.

President Eduard Kokoity of South Ossetia said he had "no doubt" that Georgian special forces were behind the explosion. The acts, he said, "undermine international efforts to stabilize the situation and torpedo the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan."

The blast comes six days before a Russian deadline to pull back from the so-called "buffer zone" outside South Ossetia, yielding a large swath of land back to Georgian control. European Union monitors began patrolling the buffer zone Wednesday, in accordance with a cease-fire agreement brokered by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and agreed to by Russia. President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia agreed to adhere to the timetable for withdrawal.

"The last terrorist act in South Ossetia proves that Georgia has not abandoned the policy of state terrorism," Kokoity told the Interfax news agency.

According to the South Ossetian government, the car had been confiscated in an ethnic Georgian village, Disevi, which lies in the Russian-patrolled buffer zone outside South Ossetia. The South Ossetian government reported that the car was confiscated for moving violations and illegal possession of arms, and that government officials think the bomb was detonated by remote control.

Shota Utiashvili, head of the analysis department for Georgia's Interior Ministry, said Georgia was not involved.

"It's completely unclear how it could have been done by the Georgians, as Kokoity has said," Utiashvili said. "There is no way we can know where this car came from and why it was taken to a Russian military base."

Utiashvili said the explosion was part of a strategy to delay the planned withdrawal.

"They have tried to create tensions several times by killing Georgian policemen, and we didn't respond to any of the actions. They just did it themselves," he said.

Zalina Tskhovrebova, editor of South Ossetia, the city's largest newspaper, said the blast was so powerful that it broke windows and knocked pictures off the wall of her office, which is about 350 feet from the site. It frayed nerves in a city still rebuilding from pitched fighting involving Russian, Ossetian and Georgian forces in August.

Since then, aid has poured into the city from Russia, with teams of workers swarming around school buildings, and trucks distributing fresh bread and Russian newspapers.

"My windows had just been replaced," Tskhovrebova said. "People were beginning to be happy."

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.