Did traffickers shoot?
Injured border guard’s life not threatened, but he still carries the bullet
Police officers and civilian leaders at the Ministry of Citizen Protection believe that it was human traffickers and not Turkish army or gendarmerie elements that fired the shots that injured a 56-year-old Greek border guard Saturday afternoon.
Their main argument is that the bullet that hit the border guard in the lower abdomen most likely came from a 9mm pistol and not the rifles that Turkish forces use. In that case, police officers say, the wound would be more serious and the bullet would have exited in the back.
To prove this theory, the bullet must be extracted first, but the doctors at the Didymoteicho General Hospital have, so far, opted to leave it inside the man’s body, to avoid further complications to his health. Despite that, doctors say that the injury is not life-threatening.
Police officers described the incident to Kathimerini: the 56-year-old border guard, along with colleagues from a unit stationed in the town of Soufli, were carrying out a routine patrol alongside the River Evros, which forms almost the entire land border between Greece and Turkey. Soon after 6 p.m., the patrol detected a group of more than 10 migrants on the Turkish border who looked like they were ready to cross the river. According to the official version, the border guards made their presence known in order to prevent the crossing. This is when three or four shots rang out, with one hitting the 56-year-old in the abdomen, despite the fact that he was wearing a bulletproof vest, his colleagues said.
The presence of the guards, and those who came to their rescue, aborted the crossing.
Turkish authorities who were contacted said that a preliminary investigation yielded nothing and have asked for the exact coordinates of where the incident took place.
