Nearly 100 Migrants Rescued in Libya Trying to Reach Europe Illegally - Navy

All rescued migrants were male, with the majority of them being citizens of Bangladesh and Sudan. There were also people from Algeria, Ethiopia, Libya, Morocco, Niger, and Tunisia aboard the boat.

CAIRO (Sputnik) — The Libyan Coast Guard has rescued 96 migrants who were trying to reach Europe illegally, the Libyan Navy, which is controlled by the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, said in a statement on Wednesday.

"A central district coast guard patrol found 96 migrants aboard an old rubber boat on April 30…Migrants were taken to Khoms… After medical and humanitarian aid was provided to them, they were handed over to the office for irregular migration and placed in a [migrant] reception facility,"the statement said.

Libya is one of the main transit countries for migrants. According to the UN Refugee Agency, the majority of migrants, who cross the Mediterranean to Europe depart from Libya. 

Meanwhile, the political situation in Libya has remained in a critical state since 4 April, when Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA), ordered his troops to advance on Tripoli in a bid to drive what he said were terrorist forces out of the city.

Armed forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord responded by starting a military operation against the LNA.