FOUR smugglers armed with Kalashnikov rifles threatened Italian coastguard officials during a rescue of 2,000 migrants off the Libyan coast at the weekend.

The gunmen approached the rescuers by speedboat as the passengers were evacuated and, once the migrant boat was empty, the smugglers took off with the vessel to use it again.

Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said the incident was “another terrible development in the horrendous trafficking in the Mediterranean.”

The migrants were taken safely to Italian ports just days after more than 300 had perished during the journey from north Africa.

Continuing unrest in Libya has meant it has become nearly impossible to police the traffickers.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has reiterated calls for support from other EU countries, saying: “The problems cannot be all left to us because we are … the people who pick up the boats.”