(Warsaw) More than 230 migrants tried to force their way into Poland from Belarus, Polish border guards said Thursday.
The EU and the United States accuse Belarus of orchestrating the crisis in retaliation for European sanctions against President Alexander Lukashenko introduced after the crushing of mass protests after the disputed presidential election.
Wednesday evening, “an aggressive group of foreigners launched an assault on our border by throwing stones and branches on the Polish services”, according to a statement of the border guards.
The migrants destroyed a section of the barbed wire fence.
“The whole event took place with the active participation of Belarusian soldiers who blinded the border guards, police officers and soldiers with strobe lights and lasers with intense green and red light,” he said. border guards.
According to border guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska, “five migrants were hospitalized. These people are exhausted, but according to the doctors, they will be able to leave the hospital ”.
Other migrants were returned to the border with Belarus.
In total, Polish border guards on Wednesday recorded 375 attempts to illegally cross the border with Belarus, the eastern limit of the EU.
Polish media estimate that at least a dozen people have died on both sides of the border since the crisis began this summer.