Three Georgian soldiers were killed and 13 injured on Tuesday, January 11, when a mortar bomb exploded during exercises on the outskirts of the capital Tbilisi, the Defense Ministry said.

The blast occurred at the Krtsanisi military training base, where Georgia trains soldiers for deployment in Afghanistan.

The Ministry blamed "technical error" during training of the 1st Artillery Brigade. "The explosion of a 120 mm mortar occurred due to a technical error during training," it said in a statement. "Three servicemen died and 13 were injured."

Local media reports said the injured soldiers were being treated in the town of Rustavi south of Tbilisi. The extent of their injuries were not known, Reuters reported.