The spokesman of the Libyan Navy forces, Brigadier-General Ayoub Qasim, said Saturday that the news reported by media outlets and newspapers about the shootings at a migrant boat off the Libyan coast by the coastguards is completely untrue.

On Friday, media outlets and newspapers reported that four illegal immigrants were killed in a shooting incident off the Libyan coast, accusing the Libyan coastguards of being behind the shooting, saying the boat that fired the shots had “Libyan coastguards” words inscribed on it.

“These allegations and accusations aim at distorting the reputation of the Libyan Coast Guard and the Libyan security forces by producing garbled news, however; we confirm that the Libyan Navy and coastguards have nothing to do with the shooting incident.” The Libyan Navy spokesman added.

The humanitarian group Sea-Watch said on Friday that a crew of a speedboat labeled "Libyan Coast Guard" attacked a migrant boat packed with some 150 migrants, beating them with sticks and causing many to fall into the water and at least four to drown. However, an Operation Sophia spokesperson commented saying they had no information about the incident.