Libya’s Coast Guard Intercepts 64 Europe-bound Migrants

Libyan Security forces guard a main road in Sebha in southeastern Libya on September 6, 2024. (Photo by Abdullah DOMA / AFP)
Libyan Security forces guard a main road in Sebha in southeastern Libya on September 6, 2024. (Photo by Abdullah DOMA / AFP)
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Libya’s Coast Guard Intercepts 64 Europe-bound Migrants

Libyan Security forces guard a main road in Sebha in southeastern Libya on September 6, 2024. (Photo by Abdullah DOMA / AFP)
Libyan Security forces guard a main road in Sebha in southeastern Libya on September 6, 2024. (Photo by Abdullah DOMA / AFP)

Libya’s coast guard intercepted dozens of Europe-bound migrants on a boat and returned them to shore, authorities said Saturday, a few days after a shipwreck off the country left nearly two dozen dead or missing.

The boat was carrying 64 migrants and was intercepted Friday off the northwestern town of Sirte, according to the town's coast guard unit. It posted images on Facebook showing dozens of migrants, including at least one woman and a child, upon their return, The Associated Press reported. The coast guard also set the migrant boat on fire, a procedure aimed at preventing its reuse by traffickers.

On Wednesday, a boat carrying 32 migrants from Egypt and Syria capsized off Libya’s eastern town of Tobruk, leaving 22 missing and presumed dead. The Libyan coast guard said it rescued nine people and recovered one body.
Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the disorder in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the country’s lengthy borders. The migrants are crowded onto ill-equipped vessels, including rubber boats, and set off on risky sea voyages to Europe.
According to the International Organization for Migration's missing migrants project, at least 434 were reported dead and 611 missing off Libya between January and August this year while more than 14,100 migrants were intercepted and brought back to shore.



Israeli Airstrike Targets Senior Hezbollah Figure in Beirut

People gather in front of a damaged building after an Israeli military strike at the Nuwayri area in Beirut, Lebanon, 10 October 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
People gather in front of a damaged building after an Israeli military strike at the Nuwayri area in Beirut, Lebanon, 10 October 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Israeli Airstrike Targets Senior Hezbollah Figure in Beirut

People gather in front of a damaged building after an Israeli military strike at the Nuwayri area in Beirut, Lebanon, 10 October 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
People gather in front of a damaged building after an Israeli military strike at the Nuwayri area in Beirut, Lebanon, 10 October 2024. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Scores were killed and injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted at least one senior Hezbollah figure in central Beirut on Thursday, security sources said.
A large fire blazed in the background as rescue workers used hand torches to search through the rubble for survivors.

It was not clear who the Hezbollah targets were. The neighborhood was not previously hit by Israel.
A thick column of smoke rose above central Beirut after what appeared to be Israel's latest major aerial attack in a widening offensive against Hezbollah.

"The Israeli enemy launched a strike in Beirut, targeting a building near the Khatam al-Anbiya complex in Nuwayri, with another strike targeting the Ras al-Nabaa area near the al-Amiliyah building," the National News Agency said.

At least 11 people were killed and 48 injured in a preliminary toll of the Israeli attacks, Lebanon's health ministry said in a statement.