WARSAW: Poland has 6,000 soldiers deployed along the border with Belarus to help stop an influx of migrants, Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Tuesday.
Thousands of migrants — most of them from the Middle East — have crossed or tried to cross over from Belarus into eastern EU states since the summer.
The EU suspects this is an effort coordinated by the Belarusian regime in retaliation against EU sanctions and has called the use of migrants a “hybrid attack.”
“Almost 6,000 soldiers from the 16th, 18th and 12th divisions are serving on the Polish-Belarusian border,” Blaszczak said on Twitter.
“The soldiers provide support to border guards by protecting the country’s border and not allowing it to be illegally crossed,” he said.
Border guards are reporting hundreds of attempted crossings every day and accuse Belarusian border guards of helping the migrants cross.
The government has implemented a state of emergency which bans journalists and humanitarian workers from the area and is planning a border wall.
Charities have criticized the government’s hard-line approach, particularly its pushback policy, and have warned of the growing danger for vulnerable migrants crossing through forests in the freezing cold.
Poland has 6,000 soldiers to stop migrants: minister
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Poland has 6,000 soldiers to stop migrants: minister
- Thousands of migrants -- most of them from the Middle East -- have crossed or tried to cross over from Belarus into eastern EU states since the summer
- Almost 6,000 soldiers are serving on the Polish-Belarusian border, said Poland's defence minister on Twitter
Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Japan’s Chugoku region
- Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities at the plant
TOKYO: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 hit the western Chugoku region of Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks.
The epicenter of the first earthquake was in eastern Shimane prefecture, the agency said, adding that there was no danger of a tsunami. Chugoku Electric Power operates the Shimane Nuclear Power Station, about 32 km (20 miles) away.
Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities at the plant.
A spokesperson said the utility was checking on any impact on the plant’s No.2 unit, which has been operating since December 2024 after being shut down following the March 2011 disasters in Fukushima.
Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas.
The earthquake had a seismic intensity of upper-5 on Japan’s 1-7 scale, strong enough to make movement difficult without support.
West Japan Railway said it had suspended Shinkansen bullet-train operations between Shin-Osaka and Hakata following the quake.
