Turkish cargo ship comes under attack in Libya, 1 dead

A Turkish cargo ship came under attack off the coast of Libya’s port city of Tobruk that left a Turkish officer dead and several crew members injured Sunday, Turkish Foreign Ministry said Monday.

The ship was first attacked by artillery fire and was targeted again in two separate airstrikes.

“The Tuna-1 ship flagged with Cook Island was attacked in international waters about 13 miles [21 kilometers] off the coast of Tobruk, when it was carrying a drywall cargo from Spain,” the ministry said in a statement.

When the ship tried to leave the region after the artillery attack, it came under two separate airstrikes that resulted in the death of a Turkish citizen, who was the ship’s third officer; other crew members also received injuries, the statement added.

“We wish God’s mercy on our citizen who lost his life. We strongly condemn this heinous attack perpetrated against a civilian ship in international waters and we curse the attackers,” the statement said.

Turkey protested the “atrocious attack” with the Libyan authorities and demanded an immediate end to the attacks on its affected ship and other Turkish ships in the region.

Turkey would also take legal actions against those responsible for the attack in accordance with international law; Turkey also reserves the right to demand compensation, the statement added.