Libyan Coast Guard denies attacking migrant boat

The Libyan Coast Guard has denied accusations that its crew members attacked a migrant boat packed with some 150 migrants, causing at least four to fall into the water and drown.

German NGO Sea Watch, operating vessels off the coast of Libya, said that a speedboat marked “Libyan Coast Guard” intercepted their boat as they helped the overcrowded rubber boat.

At least one man from the naval force jumped into the rubber boat and beat migrants with sticks, causing mass panic, the organisation said. Part of the boat then deflated forcing most of the migrants into the sea.

Sea Watch recovered four bodies and rescued 120.

Ayoub Qassem, spokesman for the naval forces in Tripoli, refuted the claims and said only one patrol member boarded the migrant vessel to check why it was in Libyan waters.

“The crew alleged that we attacked them and a number of casualties have been reported but this is not true at all and we call on them to prove this incident if they are right,” he explained.

Sea Watch said from Berlin that the position of their ship, the Sea Watch 2, was about 14 nautical miles off the coast of Zuwarah while territorial waters end at 12 nautical miles from the coast.

“It was definitely not in Libya waters,” spokesman Ruben Neugebauer said. “We should have some images at least from the cameras on board. Because it was dark, we don’t know how much they have seen, but we hope we have something.”

The incident happened before the planned training mission of 100 Libyan coast guards next week as part of the EU anti-smuggling mission “Operation Sophia”.

In August, Doctors Without Borders, another humanitarian rescue group off the coast of Libya, said it was attacked and boarded by armed men from a Libyan navy boat. The Libyan navy said it fired “warning shots” because it thought the ship was involved in people smuggling.