CAIRO: Libya’s coast guard fired upon a vessel belonging to a humanitarian group as it searched for a migrant boat in distress in the Mediterranean Sea, the nonprofit said on Monday. The attack, which took place the day before, 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. SOS Mediterranee said the confrontation took place about 40 nautical miles north of the Libyan coast, and released details and images of the incident.

Before this attack, the Ocean Viking had rescued 87 people, including from war-torn Sudan, and was en route to Italy.

CAIRO: Libya’s coast guard fired upon a vessel belonging to a humanitarian group as it searched for a migrant boat in distress in the Mediterranean Sea, the nonprofit said on…

La patrullera desde donde dos hombres armados tirotearon al personal humanitario fue donada por Italia a las autoridades libias para controlar las fronteras

The humanitarian vessel operated by the NGO SOS Méditerranée came under automatic gunfire from two masked Libyan coast guards for about 20 minutes on Sunday, August 24.