Libya Coastguard Intercepts 500 Illegal Immigrants

Libya's coastguard on Sunday intercepted five boats carrying around 500 illegal migrants who were trying to reach Europe, an official said.

Colonel Reda Issa told AFP that most of the migrants were Africans who had set off from an unspecified location.

The boats were intercepted some eight nautical miles off the coast and ordered to head for the city of Misrata east of the capital Tripoli, the officer said.

Issa did not say what would happen to the migrants, but Libya has a detention center for migrants in Misrata.

Sunday's report came with the Italian coastguard on another migrant rescue operation in the Mediterranean after nearly 3,700 were saved on Saturday alone.

Several hundred migrants, mostly Africans but also including many fleeing the civil war in Syria, leave Libya every day on rickety boats hoping to make it to Europe.

In April, more than 750 people drowned in the Mediterranean's worst maritime disaster in decades when their boat capsized. Just 26 men and two crew survived.

Since then the European Union has stepped up maritime patrols and rescue operations.

Libya has always been a stepping stone for African migrants seeking a better life in Europe.

People smugglers have taken advantage of the chaos gripping Libya since the 2011 uprising toppled strongman Moammar Gadhafi to step up their lucrative smuggling business.