Tunis (The Hawk): The Tunisian National Guard reported that in the previous 48 hours, the Maritime Guard of Tunisia had saved approximately 1,200 unauthorised migrants off the country's eastern coast.
Houcemeddine Jbabli, a spokesman for the Tunisian National Guard, said in a statement on Wednesday that the rescue operations took place over the course of two nights from Monday to Tuesday and from Tuesday to Wednesday after 49 attempts at illegal immigration were thwarted.
According to the statement, the groups of unauthorised immigrants, which included 215 Tunisians and 977 people of other nationalities, were saved while sailing to Italy.
At the northernmost point of Africa, Tunisia is one of the busiest transit countries for people travelling illegally to Europe, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Despite the fact that Tunisian authorities have taken strict action to address the issue, attempts to migrate illegally from Tunisia to Italy continue.
(Inputs from Agencies)