Shots fired at three Italian fishing boats: a sailor from the Aliseo vessel was wounded in the arm 35 nautical miles off the Libyan coast off Misurata.
Lor communicate the Navy in a note specifying that a sailor from the ship Aliseo was injured.
The note specifies that "the Libeccio frigate of the Navy, involved in Operation Mare Sicuro, intervened in the early afternoon today to assist a group of 3 Italian fishing boats (Artemide, Aliseo and Nuovo Cosimo) engaged in fishing activities in the waters of Tripolitania within the area defined by the Interministerial Coordination Committee for the Security of Transport and Infrastructure as "high risk" (about 35 nautical miles from the Libyan coast, north of the city of Al Khums)." "The intervention - it reads - was made necessary by the presence of a Libyan Coast Guard patrol boat rapidly approaching the Italian fishing boats."
“The Libeccio ship, which at the time of the report was approximately 60 miles from the scene of the action, headed towards the fishing boats at maximum speed and sent the on-board helicopter into flight, which, upon reaching the area, made radio contact with the patrol boat personnel.” “To verify the situation, a P-72 reconnaissance aircraft of the Italian Navy was also immediately diverted to the area, which reported having witnessed some warning shots from the Libyan patrol boat.”
“The frigate Libeccio, having arrived in the vicinity of the fishing boats, received news of the presence of a sailor from the fishing boat Aliseo who was injured in the arm. The action is still ongoing and the evolution of the situation has been constantly updated to the Minister of Defense, the Honorable Lorenzo Guerini”.
The Libyan Navy, which controls the Coast Guard, denies having fired at chest height at Italian fishing boats, admitting that it “only fired shots in the air” for purpose after repeatedly ordering the Italians to move away “from Libyan waters.” This was stated by Masoud Ibrahim Abdelsamad, spokesman for the Libyan Navy. “Warning shots were fired with light weapons because the Italian fishing boats had crossed the border line and had gone beyond the border.”
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“I expected it to happen… Maybe the government is waiting for someone to die…”. This is the complaint of Fayrouz Hedi and Ben Thameur, daughter and brother of two fishermen who were kidnapped by the Libyan Coast Guard in September and held hostage for 108 days. “The Italian government is not taking action for the fishermen,” she says, “maybe it will take action when someone dies”. And she says: “We are still waiting for the compensation promised by the government”. The father is currently on sick leave. But he will soon return to the Medinea where he was when the fishing boats were seized. “There are no words,” she says, “and even if I found them I wouldn’t know what to say, nothing has changed from December to today”.
Political debate erupts over the issue. The national secretary of the Italian Left, Nicola Fratoianni, asks for a response from Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Libya, following the news that the Libyan Coast Guard shot at Italian fishing boats. “I don’t remember exactly: what did we have to thank the Libyan Coast Guard for? The Italian fishermen who were machine-gunned? Or the shipwrecked people who were beaten and taken back to Libyan concentration camps? I await a response from President Draghi and his majority,” Fratoianni wrote on Twitter.
Article published on May 6, 2021 - 18:29 pm
