WASHINGTON, August 10, 2008 (AFP) - The US State Department issued a travel advisory Saturday to discourage Americans from visiting Georgia or its rebel territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia due to an ongoing armed conflict.

The department said it had authorized all 'eligible family members' of US embassy and consular staff to leave Georgia.

It also recommended that US nationals 'defer non-essential travel to Georgia and that American citizens remaining in Georgia review their security situation.

'US citizens remaining in Georgia should avoid unnecessary travel within Georgia, defer all travel north of Gori and avoid all travel to the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,' the travel advisory added.

Russia backs the separatist government in South Ossetia and sent in tanks and troops on Friday in response to pro-Western Georgia's military offensive to take back the province, which broke away in the early 1990s after a separatist war.