A Polish soldier was hospitalized on Monday evening after a flashbang grenade accidentally exploded during a clash with more than 40 migrants attempting to illegally cross the border from Belarus, Euronews reports.

The incident occurred around 8 p.m. near the border village of Cheremcha when migrants threw stones at Polish soldiers from the Podlasie task force.

The soldier was injured in his left arm when the flashbang grenade, which he used as a “coercive measure” against a “group of aggressive migrants,” exploded prematurely, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command reported. The soldier received first aid at the scene and was then taken to a hospital in Białystok. His condition was described as stable, he was conscious, and his injuries were classified as non-life-threatening. The Polish military has launched an investigation into the incident. 

Poland has faced a migration crisis on its border with Belarus since 2021, when Warsaw accused Minsk of using thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East in a hybrid warfare operation, luring them with false promises of access to the EU.