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Czech military deploys 650 soldiers on alert along border with Austria

Xinhua, October 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Czech military has put 650 soldiers on permanent alert near selected border crossings with Austria over the ongoing migration crisis.

The soldiers will be in three military facilities on Friday evening near the border crossings and they can start assist police monitor the migrant situation and guard the border in 120 minutes, said the Czech Defence Ministry on Friday.

Czech police to temporarily extend their random checks along the border with Austria and increase the number of police officers in the area 720 as from Saturday, said foreigner police spokeswoman Katerina Rendlova earlier on Friday.

At present, 200 police officers from four regions reinforced the foreigner police deployed at the border.

The soldiers are ready to assist the police in carrying out their tasks. If necessary, the soldiers can immediately start operations that will involve the monitoring of the situation and patrolling in public areas, said Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky who ordered the soldiers' deployment together with the Chief-of-Staff Joseph Becvar.

The deployed soldiers mainly include members of the 4th rapid deployment brigade and the 7th mechanised brigade. Becvar said soldiers from other units could also be deployed if necessary.

After the recent training of building a refugee facility and a joint exercise with the police on the border, this is a further test of the Czech military's readiness to deal with any possible emergency situations related to the wave of refugees, said the Defence Ministry.

According to Czech foreigner police, refugees now tend to use small border crossings. They travel in small groups, mostly families drive cars, ride on coaches or on foot. The police will be controlling 20 border crossings as of Oct. 10.

If Austria decided to close its border, migrants could start heading for Germany via the Czech Republic. Endit