Canadian warship opens fire on Libyan forces

A Canadian warship opened fire on Libyan forces early Thursday morning, helping to thwart an attack in the port of Misrata, according to NATO.

HMCS Charlottetown, acting in concert with British destroyer HMS Liverpool and a French warship, prevented the attack by several small fast boats on the port city around 2 a.m. local time, NATO said.

"The boats were forced to abandon their attack and regime forces ashore covered their retreat with artillery and anti-aircraft cannon fire directed towards the allied warships," NATO said in a statement.

The Charlottetown shot back with a short burst of machine-gun fire and while the British ship also returned fire, NATO said. Neither warship sustained any damage.

This is the second attack by pro-Gadhafi forces at sea, after Libyan forces mined the approaches to Misrata harbour two weeks ago, NATO said. NATO forces have subsequently destroyed the mines and swept the area, allowing safe passage for ships.

The Charlottetown, under NATO command, has been patrolling the waters off the coast of Libya in an effort to enforce a United Nations embargo.