Polish border guards used tear gas and water pumps against migrants at the Polish-Belarus border, at a time when a number of migrants tried to break the fence on the border with Poland and threw stones at the Polish forces.

Videos showed migrants throwing stones and other objects at Polish troops stationed at a reinforced border crossing.

Water cannon pic.twitter.com/p9Fkr9Lxff

— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) November 16, 2021

Belarusian foreign ministry spokesperson Anatoly Glaz accused Poland on Tuesday of "escalating" the migrant crisis on the countries' shared border that the EU says Minsk has engineered.

"We see today from the Polish side direct provocations and inhumane treatment of the disadvantaged," Glaz announced.

Kuźnica: Migranci zaatakowali naszych żołnierzy i funkcjonariuszy kamieniami oraz próbują zniszczyć ogrodzenie i dostać się na teren Polski. Nasze służby użyły gazu łzawiącego żeby stłumić agresję migrantów pic.twitter.com/Fi8RdmE4uX

— Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej 🇵🇱 (@MON_GOV_PL) November 16, 2021

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He added that "while Poland is pouring water on them from a water cannon, Belarus is sending humanitarian help every day." 

One of Warsaw's officers was critically injured in the clashes, the polish side announced. Minsk, according to Glaz, responded by saying that it will initiate an investigation into the incident.

Earlier in the day, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stressed that he wished to avoid the migrant crisis at the border with Poland from turning into a "confrontation."

One Polish soldier died

Two days ago, the Polish army announced that one of its soldiers died in a friendly fire incident. "According to preliminary findings, there was a shot from a military service gun, as a result of which the soldier died, and no third parties were involved in the event," a statement by the commander of the soldier's unit posted on Twitter by spokesperson Stanislaw Zaryn said.

Poland has deployed about 15,000 soldiers along the border with Belarus, in addition to police and border guards, and imposed a state of emergency in the region, about three months ago. The situation is still tense, especially with the deployment of forces on the Belarusian side as well. 

A Border conflict?

This event comes amid rising tensions on the Poland-Belarus border. Poland has been witnessing thousands of migrants and refugees attempting to cross its borders, most of whom come from the Middle East and Africa.

Poland confronted these waves of migrants by sending thousands of soldiers in addition to imposing a state of emergency on its borders. Authorities have worked to establish a barbed wire fence, an action that has exposed the Warsaw government to sharp criticism for its toughness in dealing with the crisis.

Moreover, the EU accused Belarus of encouraging thousands of people fleeing war-torn parts of the world to try to cross its borders and has threatened to impose new sanctions on Minsk and airlines that transport migrants.