Violence erupts on Poland-Belarus border as Polish guards fire water cannon on migrants throwing rocks

Polish and Belarusian authorities have blamed one another for the ratcheting of tensions on the border, where thousands of people have traveled in the hope of making it into the EU only to find themselves stuck in freezing conditions.

The Polish Border Guard said Tuesday that migrants camped out near the Kuźnica-Bruzgi border crossing were behaving "aggressively," throwing stones and various objects at the Polish services. "In order to prevent illegal border crossing, water cannons were used against aggressive foreigners," the security agency said on Twitter.

Poland's Ministry of Defense shared footage on Twitter showing Polish officers and soldiers standing shoulder-to-shoulder with riot shields as rocks were lobbed over the barbed wire border fence, describing the scene as an "attack of migrants." The ministry also accused Belarusian services of equipping migrants with "stun grenades."

The spokesperson for Poland's security services, Stanisław Żaryn, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday about the clashes, describing migrants as "storming the border."

On the Belarusian side, there were chaotic scenes as crowds of migrants could be seen breaking up concrete blocks and gathering tree branches to throw toward the Polish side of the crossing. Women and children have been moved back from the border fence, and men, many of them voicing their anger, were amassing.

"We are fighting to stay alive," one man told CNN.

Belarus state media BelTA reported "an aggravation of the situation" on the border on Tuesday, as migrants try "by all means to get to Poland" and Polish authorities respond with tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon, "pouring water on people in the cold."

"People say they are tired of waiting and are ready to break through," according to BeITA.

It's unclear what sparked Tuesday's confrontations but there is a growing sense of frustration among migrants that Europe is not welcoming them.

Rumors have also been swirling over the past 48 hours in the camps where the migrants are located that Poland was prepared to open its humanitarian corridor -- a claim Poland says is not true.

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