Migrants say they were shot at leaving Libya

UN refugee agency calls for an investigation after several injured refugees say gunmen may have "shot to kill".

Syrian refugees who survived after their boat capsized off Malta say they were fired on by warring trafficking gangs as they set out on their perilous journey from Libya, the UN refugee agency reported.
Thirty one people were killed and more than 200 people were rescued after the boat capsized a week after another shipwreck left 369 dead, prompting Malta to warn the Mediterranean was turning into a cemetery.

The boat, carrying up to 400 migrants, mostly Syrians, left the Libyan port  of Zwara on Thursday, just 60km from the Tunisian border. Citing testimonies from some of those who survived the 10-hour crossing, the UNHCR, spoke of "several injured passengers", saying that the shots were fired "perhaps by militiamen who shot to kill". News agency Ansa said witnesses spoke of two people being killed. Molhake Al Roarsan, 22, interviewed in Valletta by the newspaper La Stampa , said that three people were injured after being shot in the arms and legs. He said on Sunday that he thought the shootings were related to a dispute between different groups of traffickers. "There was a furious fight, screaming on the radio and on the phone with someone who demanded that we return to land, but the captain did not stop," said the Syrian. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres called for an investigation into the shooting incident and expressed hope that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. He also expressed concern that Syrians fleeing conflict have sought to reach Europe by such a perilous route, calling it "inhumane." "They escaped bullets and bombs only to perish before they could ever claim asylum,'' he said. The twin tragedies have prompted the European Union to call for sea patrols   to cope with the flood of migrants.

Red Cross members kidnapped in Syria

Gunmen kidnapped a team of seven workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to ICRC spokesman

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that six of its aid workers and a member of the Syrian Red Crescent had been kidnapped by gunmen in Syria.

"Six ICRC staff members and one member of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have been abducted in Idlib in northwestern Syria," ICRC spokesman Ewan Watson told AFP at the organisation's Geneva base on Sunday. "We don't know who took them. It was unidentified armed men," he added. The road on which the members were travelling is notorious for kidnappings, Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh reported. “We understand from talking to activists in that area there are a number of armed groups.” Magne Barth, head of the ICRC's delegation in Syria has called for the immediate release of the members in a statement released Sunday.  "Both the ICRC and the SARC work tirelessly to provide impartial humanitarian assistance for those most in need across Syria on both sides of the front lines, and incidents such as these potentially undermine our capacity to assist those who need us most," she said.  The team had traveled to Idlib on October 10 to assess the medical situation in the area and deliver supplies to Sarmin and Idlib city. The convoy, on its way to Damascus was clearly marked with the ICRC emblem.  Kidnapping has become an increasing problem in Syria, with journalists and aid workers frequently targeted in rebel-held parts of the country, largely located in the north.  Last month a German aid worker held for almost four months escaped his kidnappers in Idlib, just like his two colleagues who managed to flee in July, according to their aid group Gruenhelme. Large parts of the province are under the control of groups who fighting to oust Assad's regime in a conflict that has killed more than 115,000 people in two and a half years.

news aljazeera