By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 29 September 2014:
Algerian troops have arrested ten Syrians trying to cross into Libya, apparently on their way . . .[restrict]to Europe via the Libyan coast. In the last month the Algerians have been picked up around 200 other Syrians near the border.
It was unclear from the statement issued yesterday by the Algerian ministry of defence if the people smugglers, described as an “armed group of Libyans”, who were ferrying the ten Syrians were also detained.
The task for would-be illegal immigrants hoping to be smuggled across the 470 kilometre frontier running from Ghadames to Ghat is clearly becoming more difficult, as the Algerian military steps up its patrols to interdict movements of armed groups.
This May, the Ghat Border Guard commander Hossney Al-Hadad, told the Libya Herald that over the previous 18 months, the Algerian army had boosted significantly its border patrols. Collaboration with his own men, said Hadad was however limited, not least because his force was under-strength and lacked essential equipment, to say nothing of support from the central government.
There are some 12,000 Syrians who have taken refuge in Algeria. [/restrict]
