That pushes the total number of irregular migrants detained after crossing into Lithuania this year to over 3,000.
Earlier, Druskininkai was the hot-spot for the detention of irregular migrants, but Salcininkai District has now taken over following the detentions on Tuesday. All 171 latest illegal migrants claimed to be Iraqi citizens or had documents of this country.
The detainees are now undergoing COVID-19 testing and will be put in isolation before the results come.
A total of 3,027 illegal migrants have been detained in Lithuania so far this year, including č,366 in July alone, compared to 473 in June, 77 in May, 70 in April and 8 in March.
Of the people detained on the border with Belarus, 1,910 are, or say they are, Iraqi citizens. The list also includes 191 Congolese citizens, 129 Cameroonians, 83 Russians, 81 Iranians, 78 Guineans, and 77 citizens of Afghanistan and Syria each.
Border guards say most of the migrants want to get to Western European countries via Lithuania.
A state-level extreme situation is declared in Lithuania over the unprecedented influx of irregular migrants which officials say is being orchestrated by the Belarusian regime.