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A Moroccan migrant was injured by gunfire while crossing from Turkey into Greece on Thursday, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing The Associated Press (AP).
According to the AP, the 30-year-old man had a gunshot wound in the back, apparently inflicted by somebody on the Turkish side, and is being hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
The man, who was found trying to cross the Evros River in a small boat with two other men, told Greek police he had been shot by the Turkish gendarmerie, AP said.
Both Greece and Turkey have substantial populations of refugees and migrants.
On Wednesday Greek Defense Minister Alkiviades Stephanis spoke on the phone with his Turkish counterpart, Yaşar Güler, in an attempt to counter a surge in migrant crossings along border river, the AP earlier reported.
Stronger patrols by Greek authorities, assisted by the EU border agency, have restricted flows in recent years after nearly a million people made the journey in 2015.
Athens has decided to extend a five-meter-high steel fence that runs along the river by 35 kilometers (22 miles).
The fence is currently 38 kilometers long, and Athens aims to carry out the extension within a year, adding a total of 100 kilometers by 2026.
