Libyan navy said on Wednesday that it rescued 315 illegal immigrants off the country's western coast in two separate operations.
The first operation rescued 116 immigrants, including women and children, off the coastal city of Zawiya, some 45 km west of the capital Tripoli.
In the second operation off the coastal city of Al-Khoms, some 120 km east of Tripoli, 199 immigrants were rescued on two rubber boats, one of which almost sank.
The immigrants were taken to reception centers immediately after the rescue, the navy said.
A total of 22,000 illegal immigrants have reached Europe from Libya since the beginning of the year, while 1,267 others drowned en route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Thousands of illegal immigrants choose to cross the Mediterranean toward European shores from Libya because of the chaos in the country following the 2011 uprising.
SOURCE: Xinhua
