IN PICTURES: Kurds, Arab Migrants War With Police And Each Other

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BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty
Liam Deacon

Conflict has erupted once again on the Greece-Macedonia border, as migrants fought police and then each other, with Kurds pitched against Arabs.

Exploding gas canisters rocked the camp at the village of Idomeni, and migrant protestors dragged a train wagon down the tracks, ramming it into police positions.

Refugees and migrants protest as a unexploded gas canister explodes mistakenly near by as they rally demanding the reopening of the border near their makeshift camp in the northern Greek border village of Idomeni, on April 11, 2016. Fresh protests broke out as Greece and Macedonia blamed each other for an incident in which tear gas and rubber bullets were fired on migrants trying to breach the closed border to get to western Europe on April 10. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said 260 people were treated for injuries after the flare-up on the Greece-Macedonia border. / AFP / BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Migrants protest as a unexploded gas canister explodes mistakenly near by as they rally demanding the reopening of the border near their makeshift camp in the northern Greek border village of Idomeni, on April 11, 2016. (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty)

TOPSHOT - Refugees and migrants pull a wagon in an attempt to go through a barricade held by Greek police as they protest to call for the reopening of the border near their makeshift camp in the northern border village of Idomeni, on April 11, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. / AFP / BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Migrants pull a wagon in an attempt to go through a barricade held by Greek police as they protest to call for the reopening of the border near their makeshift camp in the northern border village of Idomeni, on April 11, 2016. (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

TOPSHOT - Refugees and migrants pull a wagon in an attempt to go through a barricade held by Greek police as they protest to call for the reopening of the border near their makeshift camp in the northern border village of Idomeni, on April 11, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. / AFP / BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Migrants pull a wagon in an attempt to go through a barricade held by Greek police as they protest to call for the reopening of the border near their makeshift camp in the northern border village of Idomeni, on April 11, 2016. (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Greece’s left-led government has said some volunteers and charity workers at the Idomeni camp are behind recent riots involving hundreds of migrants and refugees trying to force their way into Macedonia.

Faced with the chaos and violence, one Macedonian policeman stared down a group of masked migrants through fence, telling them: “This is my country. I am ready to die for my country”.

Tensions have been rising on the border in recent days–which was closed at the beginning of the year–ever since rumors began circulating that it was about to reopen in the coming days.

Two days ago, migrants staged a massive attack on the Macedonian border fence. Police responded to the cries of “Allahu Akhbar” with tear gas and stun grenades.

Flames and smoke are seen after a fight between Kurds and Arab Syrians at their makeshift camp in the northern Greek border village of Idomeni, on April 11, 2016. A plan to send back migrants from Greece to Turkey sparked demonstrations by local residents in both countries days before the deal brokered by the European Union is set to be implemented. / AFP / BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Flames and smoke are seen after a fight between Kurds and Arab Syrians at their makeshift camp in the northern Greek border village of Idomeni, on April 11, 2016. (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Thousands of anonymous leaflets written in Arabic had been circulated at the 11,000 person migrant camp, calling on the inhabitants to rise up together.

“Today we either break the border fence or die”, the literature read.

TOPSHOT - Refugees and migrants face Macedonian soldiers at the border fence with Greece and German flags as they protest to reopen the border near their makeshift camp in the northern border village of Idomeni, Greece, on April 11, 2016. Fresh protests broke out as Greece and Macedonia blamed each other for an incident in which tear gas and rubber bullets were fired on migrants trying to breach the closed border to get to western Europe on April 10. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said 260 people were treated for injuries after the flare-up on the Greece-Macedonia border. / AFP / BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Migrants face Macedonian soldiers at the border fence with Greece and German flags as they protest to reopen the border near their makeshift camp in the northern border village of Idomeni, Greece, on April 11, 2016. (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Greek police today temporarily detained 17 people, mostly foreign nationals, during a crackdown on volunteers suspected of “spreading malicious rumors” in the Idomeni camp.

According to AP, Police have now announced that 16 of the detainees were subsequently released without charge, while a German man found carrying a knife was charged with possessing a weapon.

The detainees were identified as German, Austrian, Swedish and Portuguese nationals, as well as two Greeks, a Palestinian resident in Greece and a Syrian.

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