LIBYA: Coastguard opened fire at refugee boats: NGOs

Libyan coastguard officers opened fire on two boats loaded with refugees while rescue operations were under way in the Mediterranean on Tuesday, according to rescue workers at the scene. The Libyan coastguard has rejected the accusations and demanded evidence. At around noon, rescue workers from four organisations – the French nongovernmental organisations SOS Mediterranee and […]

Libyan coastguard officers opened fire on two boats loaded with refugees while rescue operations were under way in the Mediterranean on Tuesday, according to rescue workers at the scene.

The Libyan coastguard has rejected the accusations and demanded evidence.

At around noon, rescue workers from four organisations – the French nongovernmental organisations SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Italian Save the Children and German Jugend Rettet – were trying to save refugees when a speedboat equipped with four machine guns and bearing the emblem of the Libyan coastguard, arrived at the scene.

The speedboat approached the rescue operation at high speed, those at the scene told Al Jazeera on Thursday, creating large waves that made it difficult for the refugees to board rubber dinghies.