NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania: The Mauritanian coast guard said Thursday that it had rescued more than 160 migrants, including 17 children, from a boat in trouble off its coast, its second major emergency operation in a week.

The migrants were “exhausted by the journey and the insecurity of the vessel” when they were rescued on Tuesday, a coast guard statement said.

“The boat had set out to sea from Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, and had sailed for about eight days on the open sea before being spotted by coast guard units, which intervened to rescue everyone on board,” the coast guard said.

“All the people on the boat are safe and sound, but particularly exhausted by the journey and the insecurity of the vessel, which already had a problem with its engine,” it added. The 161 people were taken to a reception center in the capital, Nouakchott.

Last Friday, Mauritania’s coast guard rescued more than 300 migrants, including 40 children, from a boat drifting off the west African country’s Atlantic coast. 

Many African migrants fleeing poverty are forced to resort to clandestine and rickety boats as European countries have drastically restricted the issuing of visas and tightened control over their borders.

The migrants were “in a difficult humanitarian situation” when they were picked up during the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the coast guard said in a statement.

Their wooden pirogue-style boat, common in the region, had set off from The Gambia and was carrying 315 people, 191 from Senegal, 123 from The Gambia and one from Mali, it added.

“Among these people are men, women and minors, including infants, who find themselves in a difficult humanitarian situation,” the coast guard said.

They were rescued off the fishing port of Nouadhibou, the country’s economic capital.

A coast guard official said the vessel had been drifting when it was rescued.

“All the people on board the vessel were rescued and attended to in accordance with the applicable legal and humanitarian procedures and the necessary care was provided to them,” the official said.

Last month, 144 people died or have since been reported missing at sea from a boat that left The Gambia with around 190 people on board.

It was rescued on July 18 after drifting for nearly 25 days, the UN refugee agency said.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said it was “one of the deadliest landings MSF teams have witnessed in Mauritania since the beginning of 2026.”

Mauritania signed a partnership deal with the EU in 2024 as part of the EU’s policy of externalizing border controls.

The 210-million-euro EU package provided funds for initiatives such as border surveillance, increased sea rescue capabilities and halting smuggling networks, plus development projects. In 2024, around 10,000 people died while attempting the Atlantic migration route.