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Turkey sends warship to escort cargo ship attacked off Libya

Xinhua, May 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey has sent a frigate to escort a cargo ship attacked off the Libyan coast, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

The cargo ship is on the way back to Turkey from the Libyan coast, Turkish Radio and Television 2 quoted the minister as saying.

The ship, named "Tuna 1," was shelled from land while it was 13 miles away from the Libyan coast near the port of Tobruk and again attacked twice from the air as it was trying to leave the area, the Turkish foreign ministry said in an statement earlier Monday.

One crew was killed an a number of others were wounded in the attacks, the statement said.

A Libyan military souce said the Turkish ship was attacked after it was warned several times before entering the Derna port.

Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said Libyan authorities could take such measures as warning and searching, instead of resorting to directly bombing the ship.

Such an action shows "a barbaric" attitude behind the turmoil now gripping Libya, the minister said.

The Turkish foreign ministry, in its statement earlier Monday, demanded that the Libyan authorities end actions against the security of other Turkish ships in the region.

In Libya, local media blamed forces loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar for the attack on the Turkish ship. Haftar's warplanes had launched several similar raids on Derna, pounding Islamist militants in the town.

Haftar, who played a major role in toppling Libya's ex-leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been waging a war on armed Islamist groups since last May. His Operation Dignity has gained support from Libya's internationally recognized government, now exiled in Tobruk.

In the past, Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni accused Ankara of interfering in Libya's domestic affairs, including providing support for the renegade government.

He warned of ending contracts of Turkish businesses in the country. That triggered an exchange of harsh words last week between Turkey and the Tobruk government.

Libya, a major oil producer in North Africa, has witnessed a frayed political process following the toppling of its leader Muammar Gaddafi during the 2011 political turmoil, and is now deadlocked in a dogfight between the pro-secular army and Islamist militants.

The capital city of Tripoli fell into the hands of Libya Dawn last August. The armed Islamist coalition has established its own government to confront the internationally recognized one, currently in exile in the eastern town of Tobruk. Endit