ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2022) One migrant was killed in a shooting between Greek border guards and a Turkish boat carrying illegal migrants on the river Evros near the Greek town of Soufli, media reported on Sunday.
According to Greek newspaper Kathimerini, the incident occurred after 9 p.m. local time (18:00 GMT) on Saturday.
The Greek border patrol reportedly noticed a boat with migrants on board crossing from the Turkish to the Greek side of the river Evros, which serves as a natural border between the two countries. Greek border guards gave the boat a warning using light signals, but the boat not only ignored the warning but started firing shots, prompting the Greek guards to respond in kind, according to the report.
One of the migrants on board the boat died during shooting and another six were rescued by the Greek authorities, the newspaper said.
Greek newspaper Proto Thema reported that the victim, a woman, was shot "almost at point-blank range" with a 22-caliber gun, which is used by neither the Greek nor Turkish officers, therefore she could have been shot by someone on board the boat, likely the smugglers. The firing at Greek border guards, on the other hand, was coming from the Turkish territory, possibly carried out by the Turkish military, according to the report.
According to Proto Thema, there were five surviving migrants - all of African descent, possibly Ethiopians - who were arrested and brought to Alexandroupoli.
For decades, Greece has been at odds with Turkey over a range of issues, such as competing territorial claims in the eastern Mediterranean and the Greek-Turkish divide in Cyprus. In addition, Greece has been greatly impacted by the large number of illegal migrants coming into the country through the border with Turkey. Human smuggling gangs regularly bring illegal migrants from one state to another.
