Tunisia has thwarted 12 illegal immigration attempts to Italy over the last two days, says a statement issued by the Tunisian National Guard on Saturday.
The statement, posted on its official Facebook page, said the immigration attempts were foiled off the coast of the provinces of Sousse, Nabeul and Msaken.
Thirty-nine Tunisian nationals were rescued from the sinking boats, the statement said, without indicating the total number of immigrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Located just 80 km off the Tunisian coast, Lampedusa is often chosen as the first stop on illegal journeys to Italy.
TunisianMonitorOnline
