By Robin Emmott, Joanna Plucinska and Yara Abi Nader

BRUSSELS/WARSAW – Polish security forces opened fire on rock-throwing migrants at the Belarusian border on Tuesday. NATO also reiterated support for Warsaw, in a situation that left many people stranded along the frontier due to icy temperatures.

Polish authorities have released footage that showed migrants throwing rocks and logs over a fence made of barbed wire. They also used sticks to attempt to get through.

In the violence that occurred, seven officers were injured. The latest incident in a situation the European Union believes was orchestrated by Belarus, an ally Russia. It is retaliation to EU sanctions on Belarus for cracking down on peaceful protests. Minsk refutes the charge.

Nearly 4,000 migrants mostly from Iraq or Afghanistan are waiting for asylum in frozen forests. These trees, which border Poland but also serve as the western military alliance EU/NATO’s outer boundary, lie on the frontier of Poland.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that he was deeply worried about how the Alexander Lukashenko regime uses vulnerable migrants to attack other countries. “We stand in solidarity to Poland and all of the affected allies.”

Lithuania and Latvia both members of NATO, the EU and Poland, reported an increase in crossing attempts from Belarus this summer.

During the current crisis, at least eight migrants were killed crossing the border. One of them, a 19 year-old Syrian male, was laid to rest in Bohoniki, northeastern Poland.

After Poland denied them entry and Belarusian forces stopped them from returning, a nine-year-old Kurdish boy was left behind between lakes and swamps at the frontier.

‘ENORMOUS SUFFERING’

Dunja Mijatovic (human rights commissioner, Council of Europe), said that “we can see immense suffering of people who have been left in limbo.” The Council of Europe is a European rights monitordog larger than the EU, and includes Russia.

She said that she had visited a Polish migrants’ assistance centre near the border.

After a controversial presidential election in which Lukashenko won victory, relations between Belarusia and the EU deteriorated. He has been at power since 1994. The result sparked mass protests on the streets and a crackdown from police officers.

Monday’s agreement by the EU to increase sanctions against Belarus was made. The new sanctions will be applied to airlines, travel agents and people involved in pushing migrants toward the border.

NATO and EU asked Russia, Lukashenko’s main ally to stop the crisis. NATO has warned Russia that there is an alleged Russian military buildup near the Ukraine-Russia border.

Florence Parly (French Armed Forces Minister) said that Europe would be keeping close watch on Russia’s actions near Ukraine and the Belarus-Polish frontier.

She said, “It is unsupportable instrumentalization (of immigrants)”.

Lorenzo Guerini (Italian Defence Minister) stated that all countries were working together “to strongly condemn” the Belarusian regime.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko and discussed this matter Tuesday, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported.

BELTA, Belarus’ state news agency reported that border guards began moving migrants who were gathered at an open crossing point towards a further distance from the frontier.

Moscow dismissed the U.S. State Department’s comment that Ukraine was being distracted by the crisis, which it annexed in 2014. Russia also supported separatists in the eastern Ukraine fighting against government troops.