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Water cannons against stones: clashes between immigrants and Polish forces on the Belarusian border
The crisis at the border continues to worsen, and in Warsaw two wounded in the security forces reported and accused the Lukashenko regime of arming the immigrants with stun grenades.
"This confrontation could last for months," the Polish government warned.
Putin and Lukashenko have talked again, Iraq will start bringing back immigrants
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Belarus
Poland
Immigrants
Reuters
Tuesday, 16 November 2021, 14:56 Updated: 15:12
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Immigrants throwing stones from the Belarusian border at Poland (Ministry of Defense Poland)
Security forces in Poland today (Tuesday) fired water cannons at migrants who threw stones across the border with Belarus, where thousands of people desperate to reach EU territory are gathered.
Poland's public broadcasting channel TVP reported that a Border Police guard was injured in clashes, which were documented and disseminated by the government and the Ministry of Defense in Poland on another day of aggravation of the border crisis.
The Polish Interior Ministry said a policeman was seriously injured by an object thrown across the border and was taken to hospital with a suspected skull fracture.
The Polish Ministry of Defense accused the Belarussian authorities of arming the immigrants with stun grenades to throw at soldiers and Border Police forces, and at an attempt to break through a section of the fence at the border.
"Pay attention, pay attention, if you do not follow the orders, a force will be used against you," the immigrants who threw objects, including bottles and logs, were warned by the public address system at the border.
Documents from the scene showed the immigrants using sticks to try and break through the fence.
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(Photo: Reuters)
In Europe, it is claimed that Belarus is responsible for the mass attempts of immigrants to break through the border, in retaliation for the sanctions imposed by the union on the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko in the past year, and further sanctions are being imposed on it.
Minsk denies the "absurd" claims that it is trying to destabilize the bloc while gaining the support of Russia, its close ally.
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, said the allegations that it had provoked the border crisis were "absurd".
The Belarussian news agency "Balta" reported that Lukashenko spoke today with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the crisis.
Yesterday, Lukashenko spoke with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and they discussed aid to immigrants stranded at the border.
This was the first conversation between a Western leader and Lukashenko since last August's presidential election, the results of which are unrecognized in Europe and the United States.
A Polish government spokesman said the government was considering whether to open an official consultation on the crisis with NATO allies. Jens Stoltenberg, said he was very concerned about the way Belarus is endangering the lives of immigrants.
(Photo: Reuters)
According to Polish authorities, more than 20,000 police, border guards and the army are reinforcing the border where immigrants gathered near the Polish town of Kuznice.
It is estimated that about 4,000 immigrants are at the border.
Many say that the authorities in Belarus do not allow them to return to Minsk.
The leader of the ruling party in Poland, Jaroslav Kaczynski, said that his country was facing a hybrid war.
"We have a hybrid war, but a real war, with weapons, is not on the horizon. We are facing an unexpected enemy," Kaczynski told the public radio station.
At the same time, Iraq organized an evacuation flight departing from Minsk on Thursday.
To date, between 150 and 200 Iraqi citizens already in Minsk have registered to fly back to their homeland.
Other Iraqis stuck at the border had difficulty registering.
"We are working on it with the Belarusian authorities," the Iraqi consul to Russia and Belarus, Majd al-Kinney, said.
"The number varies, because people are stuck on the Belarusian border with Poland or Lithuania and so far they have not received permission to return to Minsk by the Belarusian authorities," the consul said.
In Lithuania, which also borders Belarus, authorities said they had arrested 47 people trying to approach the border.
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