The incident occurred early on Monday morning near the eastern Polish city of Białowieża.
A spokeswoman for the regional branch of the Border Guard, Katarzyna Zdanowicz, confirmed the officer's injuries, saying that his life was not in danger.
"The attack took place around 4 a.m. when a group of around 10 aggressive individuals threw stones and thick branches at Polish officers, with some also using gas," Zdanowicz reported. "One officer was hit in the head and sustained injuries around the eye area."
This incident is part of a disturbing trend of increasing aggression at the border.
Last week, a soldier near the eastern village of Dubicze Cerkiewne was stabbed and hospitalized with serious injuries, while two other Border Guard officers were lightly injured in separate attacks.
These assaults have prompted Prime Minister Donald Tusk to announce the creation of an additional buffer zone along the border with Belarus.
According to media reports, the Polish interior ministry is finalizing regulations to address the situation.
The buffer zone was initially set to be created on June 4 but its introduction has been delayed due to consultations with local governments.
Meanwhile, statistics from the Border Guard reveal a significant rise in attempts to illegally cross the border from Belarus into Poland.
Since the beginning of May, there have been around 7,500 attempts, compared to 3,400 in April. This year alone, nearly 17,000 such attempts have been recorded.
Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak discussed the escalating situation on Tuesday, saying that the pressure on the border was intensifying.
"We are dealing with twice as many attempts to illegally cross the border than a year ago, and aggression against officers is growing," Siemoniak said in an interview with public broadcaster Polish Radio.
Siemoniak attributed the increased pressure to deliberate actions by Minsk and Moscow, highlighting that 90 percent of the migrants involved hold Russian visas.
"They are being cynically used by the regimes of Putin and Lukashenko as part of an attack on Poland," he said.
Poland recently announced increased security measures at the border, including the deployment of police and military prevention squads and enhanced training for Border Guard and military personnel to handle aggressive mobs.
(jh/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP