TRIPOLI: Libya’s navy says some 100 migrants are believed missing at sea and that at least 279 others have been rescued off the Libyan coast.
Wednesday’s statement says the migrants, mostly Africans, had embarked on the perilous trip across the Mediterranean in several vessels. Those missing were all from one single rubber boat that got ruptured while at sea.
The navy says the survivors, who were found on Tuesday, were taken a naval base in the capital, Tripoli.
On Sunday, the Libyan navy said it rescued 272 migrants.
Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi. It has since become a frequently used route to Europe for those fleeing poverty and conflict.
Libya has increased efforts to stem the flow of migrants.
Libyan navy says some 100 migrants believed missing at sea
Libyan navy says some 100 migrants believed missing at sea
Syria says detained senior Daesh jihadist in Damascus
- The arrest came less than two weeks after a December 13 attack killed two US soldiers
DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities have arrested a senior Daesh group official in the Damascus region in a joint operation with a US-led international coalition, a security official said on Wednesday.
Taha Al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an Daesh leader in Damascus, was detained with several of his men, General Ahmad Al-Dalati was reported as saying by state news agency SANA.
The arrest came less than two weeks after a December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and a US civilian that Washington said was carried out by a lone Daesh gunman in central Syria’s Palmyra.
“Our specialized units, in cooperation with the General Intelligence Directorate and and International Coalition forces, carried out a precise security operation targeting” an Daesh hideout, Dalati said.
On December 20, a Syria monitor said that five Daesh members were killed in US strikes in retaliation for the December 13 attack.
It was the first such incident since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December last year, and Syrian authorities said the perpetrator was a security forces member who was due to be fired for his “extremist Islamist ideas.”
