Belarus intends to involve int'l organizations in investigation of border incident

MINSK. Nov 16 (Interfax) – Minsk is initiating an investigation into a recent border incident with the involvement of international organizations, Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anatoly Glaz said on Tuesday.

"An appropriate official reaction will definitely follow from our side. We are initiating an investigation into the incident with the involvement of international organizations, as all the facts are obvious," Glaz said in a commentary published on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Tuesday.

"We are interested in a civilized resolution of the situation, including taking into account the interests of people, we constantly repeat that. And while Poland is hitting them with water cannons, Belarus provides humanitarian aid every day," he said.

The spokesperson once again called the incident a "direct, blatant provocation." "Special equipment is used on the territory of Belarus. Defenseless people are gassed and silenced with stun grenades. Moreover, we have information that the Polish security forces have even started throwing stones at people. There are wounded," he said.

On November 16, the situation near the temporary camp of refugees at the Bruzgi checkpoint near the border deteriorated.

"Some foreign men driven to despair by the unbearable conditions in which they and their families have found themselves over the past day made an attempt to break into Polish territory. To this end, they rushed toward the fences and attempted to dismantle them," the Belarusian State Border Committee said.

"To drive the migrants back, the Polish side used tear gas. This enraged the refugees even more, and they started pelting the security forces with stones, sticks, and everything else they had at hand at that critical moment, including footwear. In response, the Polish side shot water cannons at the unarmed refugees and used stun grenades against them," the State Border Committee said.

For its part, Warsaw has said that Belarusian border guards were controlling the illegal migrants attacking the Polish military and border guards on the border. "Today’s attack is being conducted under the strict supervision of the officials of the Belarusian authorities," the Polish Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.

As reported, the ministry believes that the Belarusian security forces provided the migrants with stun grenades.