Libya's coastguard intercepted 137 migrants including five women and three children on Sunday as they attempted to reach Europe, a migration official told AFP. Amine al-Boussefi, head of a government agency in Tripoli tackling clandestine migration, said "137 migrants were successfully rescued by the coastguard... then handed over to us".
The migrants, from several African countries, were aboard an inflatable boat intercepted Sunday morning around 40 kilometres (23 miles) north of Sayyad, a seaside village west of Tripoli, navy spokesman General Ayoub Qassem said. The migrants were taken to a navy base in the capital where the Libyan authorities gave them food, water and medical treatment, an AFP photographer said.