RIGA, Nov 5 (LETA) - Border guards prevented 18 people from illegally entering Latvia from Belarus on Thursday, the State Border Guard informed LETA.

However, three persons from Iraq, one man and two children, have been allowed to cross into Latvia on humanitarian grounds and have been detained for illegal border crossing.

Since August 10, a total of 2,092 persons have been stopped from illegally crossing from Belarus into Latvia.

Since a state of emergency was declared in regions at the Latvian-Belarusian border on August 11, 62 illegal immigrants have been allowed to enter Latvia for humanitarian reasons, and 414 people have been detained for illegal border crossing.

As reported, taking into consideration the steeply increasing numbers of illegal immigrants trying to cross into Latvia from Belarus, the government has declared a state of emergency that will run from August 11 until November 10, and then extended to February 10, 2022, in the following municipalities: Ludza Region, Kraslava Region, Augsdaugava Region, and the City of Daugavpils.

Latvian authorities consider attempts by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's regime to push migrants across Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish borders are methods of hybrid warfare targeting these countries.