45 undocumented migrants rescued off Libya's eastern coast

TRIPOLI -- A total of 45 undocumented migrants were rescued off the coast of the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk, Libyan newspaper Al-Watan reported Saturday.

The migrants, identified as 23 Egyptian nationals and 22 Sudanese nationals on a rubber boat, were rescued by the Libyan Coast Guard about 222.2 km north of Tobruk, Al-Watan reported.

They received necessary medical and humanitarian assistance, and were then referred to a detention center to complete legal procedures, it reported.

Libya has been a major transit point for migrants trying to reach Europe since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. Smuggling networks have thrived amid political division and insecurity, exposing migrants to repeated Mediterranean shipwrecks.

The country remains split between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity and an eastern administration allied with Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army.