A humanitarian group has said that Libya’s coast guard fired upon its vessel as it searched for a refugee and migrant boat in distress in the Mediterranean Sea.
On Monday, the nonprofit SOS Mediterranee said the confrontation occurred a day earlier, about 40 nautical miles (74km) north of the Libyan coast, and released details and images of the incident. No casualties have been reported, although the group said the vessel sustained significant damage.
SOS Mediterranee charters the Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The attack appeared to be one of the most violent involving a European rescue ship and the Libyan coast guard, which receives training, equipment and funding from the European Union.
The patrol boat used in the attack was a 2023 gift from Italy to the Libyan coast guard as part of the EU’s support for a border management programme, SOS Mediterranee said.
Before it was attacked, the Ocean Viking had rescued 87 people from two boats, including many from war-torn Sudan, and was on its way to Italy.
While searching for a third boat in distress, the Ocean Viking was approached by a Libyan patrol vessel in international waters, Angelo Selim, the search-and-rescue coordinator on board, told The Associated Press.
When they were very close, he said, they started shooting for 15 to 20 minutes.
“In the beginning, I didn’t understand the noise of the shots. But when the first windows exploded on my head, we all got on the floor,” Selim recalled. He added that some of the shots appeared to come from automatic weapons.
Selim said he instructed the refugees and migrants and non-essential crew members to lock themselves inside the safety room while he and the captain remained on the bridge.
Eventually, he said, the shooting stopped, but the threats continued. Selim described the Libyan coast guard warning the Ocean Viking in Arabic over the radio: “If you don’t leave the area, we will come and kill you all.”
In video and photos of the incident released by SOS Mediterranee, two men can be seen pointing weapons at the boat and several rounds of gunshots are heard. Broken windows and damaged equipment are also seen.
“This incident was not only an outrageous and unacceptable act,” SOS Mediterranee said in a statement Monday. “This is far from isolated: the Libyan Coast Guard has a long history of reckless behaviour that endangers people at sea, flagrantly violates human rights and shows total disregard for international maritime law.”
Frontex, the EU’s border protection agency that often spots boats in distress and shares coordinates with the relevant maritime authorities, called the incident “deeply concerning” and urged “the proper authorities to investigate the events swiftly and thoroughly”.
While Italian officials have not yet responded to this incident, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government has vowed to block the refugee and migrant sea journeys from Africa and has passed measures against human smugglers, including tougher jail terms. The government has also urged allies to do more to curb the migration attempts.
There have been numerous maritime disasters involving people travelling from Libya, making the perilous Mediterranean crossing from Africa to Europe.
Rights groups and United Nations agencies have also documented systematic abuse against refugees and migrants in Libya, including torture, rape and extortion.
In February, Libyan authorities uncovered nearly 50 bodies from two mass graves in the country’s southeastern desert, in the latest horror involving people seeking to make it to Europe through the North African country.
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