One crewman was killed after a Turkish-owned cargo ship was shelled from the Libyan coast as it approached the port of Tobruk and then attacked from the air as it tried to leave the area, Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Monday.

The Cook Islands-chartered Tuna-1 vessel, owned by a Turkish company, was carrying plasterboard from Spain to Tobruk on Sunday when it was hit 21 km (13 miles) from the port, suffering some damage, the foreign ministry said.

The ship’s third officer died and other crew members were wounded in the incident, which the foreign ministry condemned in a statement. It did not specify who launched the assaults.

“We condemn strongly this contemptible attack which targeted a civilian ship in international waters and curse those who carried it out,” it said.

Turkey’s foreign ministry added that it had protested to the Libyan authorities over the “atrocious” attack and called on them to ensure the safety of all vessels in the region.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for military forces loyal to Libya’s internationally recognised government said the ship was bombed after it was warned not to break a ban on approaching the country’s eastern city of Derna, and was later towed to Tobruk.

“A ship was shelled about 10 miles from Derna coast. We have warned before about approaching Derna port,” military spokesman Mohamed Hejazi told Reuters.

Libya, which is awash with weapons and armed factions following the toppling and death of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, has two rival governments and parliaments.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)