EU, Turkey agree migrant deal

The European Union yesterday grappled with a dark new turn in its refugee crisis after Bulgarian border guards shot dead an Afghan refugee in the first such fatality in the months-long humanitarian drama.

The killing -- described by Bulgaria as an accident that it deeply regretted -- occurred late Thursday, just before the EU and Turkey struck a deal aimed at stemming a massive influx of migrants into the bloc.

The accord, meanwhile, appeared to hit an early bump in the road as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mocked Brussels for its contribution in tackling the Syrian refugee crisis and challenged it to take Ankara's bid for EU membership more seriously.

Under the plan, Turkey agreed to tackle people-smugglers and take measures to keep more of the millions of refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict from crossing by sea to Europe.

In exchange, European leaders agreed to give Ankara more funds to tackle the problem and speed up working on easing visa restrictions on Turkish citizens travelling to Europe, reports AFP.

The Afghan man was among a group of 54 migrants spotted by a patrol near the southeastern town of Sredets close to the Turkish border, Bulgarian interior ministry official Georgy Kostov said yesterday.

The migrants "did not obey" a police order to stop, the official said. "None of the migrants were armed, but they put up resistance."

A spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Bulgaria called the incident "very regrettable".

The International Organization for Migration said yesterday more than 613,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe since the beginning of the year and more than 3,100 have died trying.