Serbian police detain 1,000 illegal migrants on border with Hungary
Illegal migrants and smugglers, with weapons and symbols of Kosovo extremists, were detained by Serbian police.
-
Serbian police raid a makeshift camp housing 200 migrants and refugees near the border with Hungary on October 5, 2022 (AP)
The Serbian police detained about 1,000 undocumented migrants on the border with Hungary following a shootout between migrants and smugglers, Dragan Vasiljevic told Radio Television of Serbia.
Serbian police were informed on Thursday night about a shooting in Horgos, a village near Hungary. When police arrived on the site, they discovered six migrants, one of whom had been shot twice in the chest.
Serbia
— Spriter Monitor (@SpriterMonitor1) November 25, 2022
More than 600 migrants detained: Major police action after shooting and wounding in Horgos
After reporting that migrants were shooting at each other in the area of Horgoš, the police searched the area. pic.twitter.com/voyM7iLBvu
Reports revealed that the shootout took place between migrants and smugglers. Following the incident, the Serbian Internal Ministry searched an illegal camp on the border with Hungary and transferred migrants to reception centers in the south of the country.
"As for the armed incident on Thursday — the shootout between groups of smugglers and illegal migrants — the police have immediately reacted and have been taking intensive measures to find the perpetrators. They are mostly citizens of Afghanistan and Morocco," Vasiljevic told the broadcaster.
The official reported that the six migrants went to the Serbian city of Subotica hospital to treat their injuries, adding that they were currently under police surveillance.
Read next: Austrian Chancellor: EU migration system, border security have failed
During the searches of migrants and smugglers, the police found automatic weapons, pistols, and cartridges for them, according to Vasiljevic. Some of the suspects also had symbols of the Kosovo Liberation Army on their hats, scarves, and baseball caps.
The police revealed that the Serbian Internal Ministry used helicopters and drones to inspect the region.
Since the start of the European migration crisis in 2015, the region in the north of Serbia near the border with Hungary has seen large concentrations of migrants and people smugglers. The conflict in Ukraine in 2022 caused the situation to deteriorate.
The Serbian and Hungarian authorities have received several complaints from local citizens about the danger to their safety and property.
