Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Belarusian security forces discovered an arsenal of weapons intended for “terrorist attacks” two days after they killed a suspected terrorist near the border with Poland.
The discovery is said to have come after an operation by Belarusian troops that ended on Sunday with the death of a foreigner for allegedly preparing an attack on the town of Grodno, east of the border with Poland.
The Belarusian security service KGB said the alleged terrorist was killed in a shootout, with television in the country reporting this Tuesday that a fake passport in the name of a Russian national had been found on the body.
“The special services worked brilliantly,” said Lukashenko, claiming that “a whole arsenal of weapons and explosives intended for high-level terrorist attacks against civilians and government officials has been seized.”
Belarus hosts Russian army and equipment on its territory, some of which have been deployed to the war in neighboring Ukraine.
The country’s authorities have carried out several raids and arrests since February 26, when a ‘drone’ (unmanned aerial vehicle) attacked a Russian military aircraft at an airport near Minsk.
According to the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna, more than 100 people have already been arrested.
Aliaksandr Azarau, the leader of the ByPol opposition movement, who claimed responsibility for the attack on the Russian plane, told the Associated Press (AP) news agency that he had nothing to do with the events in Grodno and claimed Belarusian authorities may have an incident to discredit the opposition and create an apparent threat from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and Poland, a member of the alliance.
Lukashenko uses tricks to intensify repression in the country and show the Kremlin [Presidência russa] which fights against both domestic opposition and Western intelligence agencies,” said Azarau.
Source: DN
