Belarusian troops tear up Poland border fence and target Polish troops with lasers and strobe lights
EXCLUSIVE: Belarus ARMS migrants: Troops give tear gas to desperate refugees, tear down fences and try to blind Polish soldiers with lasers in new escalation of border warfare
Footage released this morning shows how Polish troops were blinded by lightsThey were trying to shore up the border fence between Poland and BelarusHours earlier, Belarusian troops destroyed parts of the 120 miles of barbed wireWestern allies have accused Belarus of sending thousands of migrants into EU
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The bitter dispute between Warsaw and Minsk dramatically escalated last night when Belarusian troops ripped up the border fence and prevented Polish soldiers from rebuilding it.
Film footage released this morning by Poland’s Border Force reveals how its troops were blinded by lasers and strobe lights as they tried to shore up the frontier.
Hours earlier Belarus forces had destroyed part of the 120 miles of barbed wire fencing that separates the east European states.
Migrants were also armed with tear gas by the Belarus military to attack Polish forces once they got across the border.
The incursion occurred near the town of Czeremcha which has seen hundreds of migrants pass through the frontier in recent weeks.
Plish soldiers and police watch migrants at the Poland/Belarus border near Kuznica, Poland, in this photograph released by the Territorial Defence Forces, November 12, 2021. The bitter dispute between Warsaw and Minsk dramatically escalated last night when Belarusian troops ripped up the border fence and prevented Polish soldiers from rebuilding it
The soldiers were carrying out the orders of their Minsk dictator leader Alexander Lukashenko to help migrants across the border to destabilise the EU.
A spokesman for the Polish Border Force told MailOnline: ‘Last night near Czeremcha, Belarusian soldiers began to destroy the temporary border by tearing up fence posts. ‘Polish forces were blinded by laser beams and strobe light.
‘Also, a group of about 100 migrants were to cross and Poland says Belarusians gave them tear gas, which was used against the Polish forces.’
Polish police said on Saturday the body of a young Syrian man was found in Poland near the border with Belarus, police said on Saturday, amid mounting international tension over the migrant crisis the EU says has been orchestrated by Minsk.
Thousands of migrants from the Middle East are sheltering in freezing conditions on the border between Belarus and EU states Poland and Lithuania, which are refusing to let them cross. Some have already died and there are fears for the safety of the rest as bitter winter conditions settle in.
The death brings to 11 the number of migrants found dead on both sides since the crisis began in the summer, according to aid groups.
Film footage released this morning (pictured) by Poland’s Border Force reveals how its troops were blinded by lasers and strobe lights as they tried to shore up the frontier
Pictured: Bright lights are shown streaming through a barbed wire fence last night on the Poland-Belarus border, as Belarusian troops stopped Polish troops from fixing the fence
Pictured: A grab from a video showing a green laser is shone through a barbed wire fence
Polish army have erected 180 kilometres of barber wire fencing (pictured) across the border with Belarus. Pictures from Poland Ministry of Defence
‘Yesterday, in the woods, near the border, near Wolka Terechowska, the body of a young Syrian man was found,’ Podlaska Police said on Twitter.
The police said they had been unable to determine the cause of death at the scene.
The discovery comes amid mounting international tension over the crisis, with neighbours of Belarus warning the situation could escalate into a military conflict and U.S. President Joe Biden expressing his concern.
Polish border guards estimate there are currently up to 4,000 migrants camped out along the border.
Belarus said on Saturday that the number of migrants arriving at a makeshift camp on the border was growing daily, and that a group of up to 100 had crossed into Polish territory.
‘There’s a group (of migrants) close to the crossing point… They are indeed on Polish territory. Up to 100 people,’ the RIA news agency quoted the Belarusian state border committee as saying.
The Polish Border Guard said Belarusian soldiers had torn up a section of the temporary fence erected by Poland to deter migrants during the night.
Belarusian Red Cross worker and military distribute food for asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants who gather at the Belarus-Polish border in the Grodno region, not far from the checkpoint Bruzgi, Belarus, 12 November 2021
Migrants unload a truck with tree trunks delivered by the Belarusian officials in a camp on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region on November 12, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key ally of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, said Belarus has nothing to do with the migrant crisis.
On Saturday, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski told private broadcaster RMF FM he would meet U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to discuss the situation next week. He said around 1,500 people were camped at the border and that this number was growing.
Poland, Austria, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have asked international aid organizations to organise humanitarian and medical assistance in Belarus to ‘avoid tragedies and prevent (a) humanitarian crisis’ at the Polish border.
The Polish Border Guard said there were 219 attempts to illegally cross the border on Friday. The Lithuanian border guard says 144 migrants attempted to enter on Friday.
Speaking on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia has nothing to do with the migrant crisis on the Belarus-Poland border.
‘I want everyone to know. We have nothing to do with it,’ he said in an interview with state broadcaster Vesti, after Poland and other Western critics accused Moscow of working with Minsk to send thousands of migrants to the EU border.
Putin said European leaders needed to talk to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko if they want to resolve the crisis, which has left hundreds of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, trapped on the border.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said today in an interview with Russian state television (pictured) that Russia has nothing to do with the migrant crisis on the Belarus-Poland border
‘As I understand it, Alexander Lukashenko and (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel are ready to talk to each other,’ Putin said.
‘I hope this will happen in the near future – this is most important.’
He again blamed the West for the crisis, saying its policies in the Middle East were the reasons migrants wanted to go to Europe in the first place.
‘We should not forget where these crises associated with migrants came from. What, is Belarus the cause of these problems or something?’ Putin said.
‘No, these reasons were created by Western countries themselves, including European countries. They are political, military and economic in nature.’
Putin also said on Saturday that Moscow considered recent Black Sea exercises by US and other NATO ships as a serious challenge.
‘The United States and its allies in NATO are carrying out unplanned exercises in the Black Sea. Not only is a rather powerful naval group involved in these exercises, but also aviation, including strategic aviation. This is a serious challenge for us,’ he said in an interview with state broadcaster Vesti.
