World News | Belarus Claims It Prevented Drone Attacks from Lithuania. Vilnius Rejects the Allegations
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The head of the top security agency in Belarus claimed Thursday that the country has prevented attempted drone strikes from Lithuania that targeted the capital, Minsk, and surrounding areas.
Tallinn (Estonia), Apr 25 (AP) The head of the top security agency in Belarus claimed Thursday that the country has prevented attempted drone strikes from Lithuania that targeted the capital, Minsk, and surrounding areas.
Lithuania's military and National Crisis Management Center strongly denied the claim by Ivan Tertel, head of the Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB).
Tertel told a session of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly that “the KGB, in cooperation with colleagues from other structures, has recently carried out a number of acute security measures, which made it possible to prevent attacks by combat drones from the territory of Lithuania on objects in Minsk and its suburbs.”
He did not present evidence for the claim or give any details. He also said that “radicals” in Lithuania and Poland are producing drones to attack Belarus.
Also Read | Earthquake in Pakistan: Quake of Magnitude 3.2 on Richter Scale Hits in Karachi.
The All-Belarusian People's Assembly includes officials, members of local councils, unions and pro-government activists and operates in parallel with the parliament.
“This is nonsense; I can't find another word,” Lithuanian military spokesman Gintautas Ciunis told journalists on Thursday.
“Such statements by the Belarusian KGB can be regarded as a continuous hostile provocation and an informational attack against Lithuania, which has nothing to do with reality. It can be considered that they are also intended for the domestic audience of the country,” the Lithuanian crisis management center said in a statement.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia, which has deployed tactical nuclear weapons, missiles and troops in the country. Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly boasted that Belarus would turn back any attempt by Ukraine or NATO countries to attack it.
Although Belarusian forces have not entered the Russia-Ukraine war, the country has been a springboard for Russian forces that entered Ukraine's north. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)