TRIPOLI, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Libyan coast guard units rescued 151 migrants from a rubber boat off the coast of the northern city of Sirte on Monday, local media reported.
The rescue operation was carried out in the morning about 80 nautical miles (about 148 km) northeast of Sirte, according to local newspaper Al-Sa'a 24 and Al-Masar TV.
The rescued migrants included 122 Bangladeshis, 12 Egyptians, nine Eritreans, four Sudanese, two Chadians and two Beninese, the reports said.
The coast guard units operate under the General Command of the Libyan Army, led by Khalifa Haftar, which controls eastern Libya.
The rescue followed a series of migrant boat accidents in the Mediterranean in recent days, including two separate shipwrecks off the Greek island of Crete involving boats that had departed from eastern Libya, which left at least 22 migrants dead, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Libya has remained a major transit point for migrants seeking to reach Europe across the Mediterranean, amid persistent political divisions, insecurity and the continued activity of migrant smuggling networks since the 2011 fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi. ■