Khalifa Haftar's forces intercepted Tuesday a Turkish commercial ship as it was heading to Libya's Misrata carrying medicines on board, saying the ship was "violating instructions".

The spokesman for Haftar's forces, Ahmed Al-Mismari said on Twitter that Mabrouka Ship (with the Jamaican flag and owned by a Turkish national) was detained in Libyan waters because it had entered "a restricted area and failed to comply with instructions or respond to calls".

Al-Mismari said the ship was then tugged to Ras Al-Hilal port and the crew (9 Turkish nationals, 7 Indians and 1 Azerbaijani national) were placed under interrogation for violating maritime laws.

Al-Mismari also told pro-Haftar Al-Hadath TV that the Turkish ship was carrying medicines to Misrata but entered a restricted area in the sea, claiming to have contacted the ship by many calls but to no avail.

He also said that they had to approach the ship on boats and then the naval personnel entered it to see it was carrying medicines, adding that the captain didn't follow the necessary procedures as he entered a restricted area without a prior permission, yet the ship was positively not carrying any weapons.