Armed migrant smugglers threatened Italian Coast Guard

William M. Welch | USA TODAY

Armed smugglers threatened an Italian Coast Guard motorboat in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday as its officers attempted to rescue migrants from Libya, reports said.

The Italian Coast Guard had just taken the migrants aboard when three of four smugglers jumped onto the migrants' empty boat and took off, the Associated Press reported.

Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said the confrontation with four men in a speedboat and brandishing Kalashnikov rifles took place 50 miles off the coast of Libya.

The BBC said the Italians were part of a major rescue operation aimed at saving migrants having difficulty in stormy weather on the Mediterranean Sea.

Nearly 2,200 migrants were rescued in several operations Sunday and taken to Italian ports, the Coast Guard said. Hundreds were also rescued Saturday, the AP reported.

Matteo Renzi, Italy's premier, has pressed the United Nations to intervene to stem the violence in Libya. Italy evacuated its personnel from Tripoli on Sunday and advised other Italian citizens to leave Libya, where many work in oil and construction.

Last week gunmen from an al-Qaeda inspired militia took over broadcast stations in the city of Sirte, the AP reported, citing a security official in Libya.

Officials in Italy worry that terrorists may slip into the country aboard boats crowded with refugees.

The U.N. says nearly 3,500 people died in similar crossings to Europe in 2014 and more than 200,000 were rescued.

Many were plucked from the sea as a result of an Italian operation known as Mare Nostrum, which was launched in October 2013 in response to a tragedy in which 366 migrants died, BBC reported. That operation has ended.