The 2008 war between Georgia and Russia over the separatist region of South Ossetia may have only lasted five days but five years on, Amiran Gugutishvili is still counting the cost.

Snaking through the burnt-out shell of what was once his cousin's house are four-foot (1.2-meter) high coils of razor wire that divide the Russian-backed breakaway territory from Georgian-controlled land.

Georgia police on Saturday arrested 12 people as opposition leaders were mobbed and assaulted in the western town of Zugdidi amid a tense atmosphere ahead of October presidential polls, officials said.

Protesters threw stones at leaders of the United National Movement (UNM) party when they arrived at Zugdidi Drama Theater for a party conference held as part of primaries to elect a presidential candidate for the forthcoming leadership polls, according to footage aired by local television.

Georgia on Tuesday said it had revoked visa-free entry for Iranians amid concerns that Tehran might be using its booming business ties with the small ex-Soviet state to skirt international sanctions.

"Georgia has unilaterally revoked visa-free travel regime with Iran," Irakli Vekua, Georgia's foreign ministry spokesman, told Agence France Presse.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Wednesday said that Georgia is getting nearer to full NATO membership but key reforms lie ahead before the former Soviet state can join the organisation.

"Georgia is closer but there is still work to do," Rasmussen told journalists at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili in Tbilisi.

Georgian security agencies said Thursday they had foiled an attack after two foreign nationals were arrested in Tbilisi along with a large cache of explosives and weapons.

"An attempted terrorist act has been foiled by Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs at a preparatory stage," the interior ministry said in a statement.

Seven Georgian troops were killed and nine were wounded in a suicide attack in Afghanistan when insurgents attacked their base, the pro-Western Caucasus country's army chief said Thursday.

"Seven military servicemen were killed" when a "suicide terrorist" blew up a truck loaded with explosives outside a Georgian military base in Afghanistan's Helmand province, General Irakli Dzneladze, chief of the Georgian army joint staff, told a news conference.

Georgia on Tuesday lashed out at arch-foe Russia over the construction of a new barrier along its disputed frontline with the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

"The foreign ministry of Georgia expresses its deep concern over the installation of wire fences by the Russian occupation forces across the Tskhinvali region's occupation line," the ministry said in a statement.

The head of Georgia's influential Orthodox Church called Thursday on the authorities to ban a gay rights rally set to be held in the deeply religious country.

The call came a day before gay rights activists were to stage a brief demonstration in central Tbilisi to mark the International Day against Homophobia.

Three Georgian soldiers were killed on Monday in a suicide attack on their base in southern Afghanistan, the country's defense minister said.

"Insurgents have made a combined attack on the base with the use of an explosive device installed on a truck by a suicide terrorist," defense minister Irakli Alasania said in televised comments.

The United States on Wednesday endorsed the former Soviet republic of Georgia's democratic reforms and bid to join NATO and the EU, amid a power struggle between its president and prime minister.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed this support at a press conference with the visiting Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili.