Poland Braces for Attack by Migrants Who Have Been “Weaponized” By Belarus and Are Heading Toward Border
The Polish Border Force is bracing for a “major assault” at the Belarusian border by a large group of armed migrants sometime tonight.
Over the past few nights, tensions have been quickly rising as the Belarusians continue to use migrants to antagonize the Polish soldiers. In several videos that have been posted online, migrants can be seen attempting to blind Polish troops with laser pointers that were given to them by Belarusian forces.
Migrants have even been given tear gas to use against Polish border agents.
Watch:
Nieopodal ok.100-os.grupa migrantów oczekiwała na możliwość nielegalnego przekroczenia granicy. Białorusini wyposażyli cudzoziemców w gaz łzawiący, który został użyty w kierunku polskich służb. Tej oraz kolejnym próbom nielegalnego przekroczenia gr. 🇵🇱🇧🇾zapobiegliśmy pic.twitter.com/aUq2WLbv0T
— Straż Graniczna (@Straz_Graniczna) November 13, 2021
Tweet translation: “At night, in the area of the town of Czeremcha, [Belarusian] soldiers began to destroy the temporary border dam. They were tearing out fence posts and tearing up [concrete] with a service vehicle. Polish services were blinded by laser beams and strobe light.”
“Nearby, a group of about 100 migrants waited for the possibility of illegal border crossing. Belarusians equipped foreigners with tear gas, which was used towards the Polish services. This and subsequent attempts to illegally cross [were] prevented.”
Now, things are rapidly getting worse.
According to the Daily Mail, Polish authorities have received intelligence of a large gathering of enemy troops in Belarus that they say has been arming thousands of migrants with equipment and weapons. The Belarusian soldiers are also reportedly instructing the migrants on their plan of attack, which is believed to be targeting the border crossing at Kuznica – one of two major crossing points between the two countries.
A spokesperson for the Polish Border Force explained to The Daily Mail that they had experienced an unusually quiet night around the border crossing on Saturday, with some of the tents in the migrant campsites disappearing and what he called a “commotion” as the Belarusian soldiers worked with the migrants prepare for what looked like something “big.”
Whatever Belarus is planning, Poland will be ready for it, he says.
“After a quiet night in the vicinity of the camp in Kuznica, we are currently observing that more groups of armed officers of Belarusian services are located in the place.
We are noticing a commotion among migrants. There is also a TV broadcast van. Some tents are starting to disappear [as] migrants get instructions, equipment, and gas from Belarusian services.
You can see that the Belarus side is getting ready for a big attempt at crossing the border.
Our forces are ready for action.”
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Niektóre namioty zaczynają znikać. Cudzoziemcy dostają instrukcje, sprzęt oraz gaz od 🇧🇾 służb. Widać, że strona 🇧🇾 przygotowuje się dzisiaj na dużą próbę forsowania granicy. Nasze siły są w gotowości do działania @Straz_Graniczna @MON_GOV_PL @PolskaPolicja pic.twitter.com/UnL43czw19
— Straż Graniczna (@Straz_Graniczna) November 14, 2021
Tweet Translation: “Some tents are starting to disappear. Foreigners get instructions, equipment and gas from [Belarus] services. You can see that [the Belarus] side is getting ready today for a big attempt at crossing the border. Our forces are ready for action.”
Migranci zaczynają znosić gałęzie z lasu. Pojawili się również przedstawiciele białoruskich mediów. Większość namiotów, w których przebywali migranci jest usuwana. pic.twitter.com/pgBvBr3PHG
— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) November 14, 2021
Tweet translation: “Additional officers of the Belarusian services have arrived in the Kuźnica region. There is a noticeable movement among migrants.”
“Migrants begin to remove branches from the forest. Representatives of the Belarusian media also appeared. Most of the tents where migrants have stayed are being removed.”
Currently, Poland has over 15,000 troops stationed on the border to prevent anyone from crossing illegally. Their efforts have been so effective that only around 150 people in total have gotten across and evaded capture so far, even with the help of Belarusian soldiers who have been engineering secretive migrant incursions along the border.
Poland’s Security Services Minister Stanislaw Zarin indicated earlier today that things have only gotten worse over the past few days, saying more people keep showing up, which just keeps “escalating the situation.”
Zarin also tweeted a photo of one uniformed man on the Belarusian side of the border who he says fired gunshots into the air before attempting to destroy part of the border fence.
Przy granicy z Polską po stronie Białorusi co chwilę pojawiają się osoby, które eskalują sytuację.
Ten mężczyzna oddał strzały w powietrze, potem próbował uszkodzić polską barierę graniczną. 👇 pic.twitter.com/0Be9hPEpIT
— Stanisław Żaryn (@StZaryn) November 14, 2021
Tweet Translation: “At the border with Poland on the side of Belarus, there are people who escalate the situation every now and then. This man fired shots into the air, then tried to damage the Polish border barrier.”
Tensions have only continued to rise as the Belarusian side continues to agitate the situation by lying to the migrants and giving them weapons to assault the Polish soldiers.
From the Daily Mail:
“NGO Gupita Granica said in a statement it had received information about attempts by Belarus to force migrants to use violence against Polish officers.
Yesterday, Warsaw revealed how Belarus was arming migrants with tear gas and knocking down border posts to push the asylum seekers over the border to Poland.
British army engineers have been drafted in to help Poland shore up their frontier, while Russian paratroopers carried out a military exercise close to the frontier in a show of support for Belarus.”
Poland – for its part – is dug in for the long haul – they are building residential quarters for their soldiers on the front lines.
Tweet Translation: “Today, 73 residential containers for soldiers serving on the Polish-Belarusian border will be delivered to the Michałów region. The transport of containers provided by the Strategic Reserves Agency is carried out by soldiers.”
73 kontenery mieszkalne dla żołnierzy pełniacych służbę na granicy polsko – białoruskiej zostaną dziś dostarczone w rejon Michałowa. Transport kontenerów przekazanych przez Agencję Rezerw Strategicznych realizują żołnierze @1BLogBydgoszcz @IwspSz pic.twitter.com/WneMo3Gl5T
— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) November 13, 2021