Libya's coast guard said today it intercepted more than 400 African migrants attempting to reach Europe, a day after EU leaders agreed on moves to curb mass migration from the country. "The migrants are of different African nationalities and there are a great deal of women and children among them," he said. Around 230 people have died en route to Europe since the start of 2017, according to the United Nations. European Union leaders meeting Friday in Malta approved a new strategy to "break the business model" of traffickers who helped 181,000 mainly African migrants enter the EU via Libya and Italy last year. The plan includes funding and training Libya's coast guard to make it better able to intercept migrant boats and helping neighbouring countries to close routes into Libya, according to a draft statement seen by AFP.

Source: Libya Today February 04, 2017 15:00 UTC