Italian fishermen and Libyan Coastguards clash
ANNONCER
Italian fishing industry body Federpesca has condemned the actions of a Libyan Coastguard patrol that fired on Italian fishing vessels this week, with one Italian crewman injured.
Italian naval vessels attended the scene to keep the Libyan and Italian vessels apart in an area that has seen increasing clashes taking place in recent years.
Last year 18 fishermen and two vessels from Sicily were held in Libya for more than three months before being freed in December.
In this latest incident, three Italian vessels from Mazara del Vallo in Sicily fishing for red prawns are reported to have been machine-gunned, while Libyan authorities claim that only warning shots were fired into the air.