Clash of migrants in Bihac, police use weapon

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A group of migrants clashed Monday evening in Bosnia's northwestern city of Bihac, triggering the swift reaction of the police and the use of the weapon, the Interior Ministry of the Una-Sana Canton said on Tuesday.

The police received the first report on an incident in the abandoned student dormitory, where migrants are accommodated, around 6 p.m. and determined it was a minor physical confrontation between two Iranian nationals, where one injured another using a wooden stick.

The major clash happened about an hour later, according to the police report, when a group of Afghani migrants attacked a group of Iranian nationals, which resulted in several injured migrants with one suffering severe injuries.

During the on-site investigation and interrogation of the Iranian migrants, dozens of other migrants attempted to physically assault the Iranians as well as the police, which triggered a police officer to use the weapon as a warning. According to the police report, he fired four shots in order to protect the lives of his colleagues after which the migrants stepped back.

The northwestern city of Bihac, situated only a few kilometres from the border with Croatia, has become a sort of a hub for migrants who're on the way to their final destinations in the western Europe. The local authorities have been struggling with a constant influx of migrants, demanding from the state-level institutions to find a solution to their accommodation as they were on their own initiative occupying public areas such as parks and abandoned buildings.

Following the Monday incidents, the police launched a comprehensive operation at the locations used by migrants, which involves 170 police officers, said Spokesperson for Una-Sana Canton Ministry of Interior Snezana Galic.