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UN: Bodies of at least 6 migrants found on Libyan coast

Cairo: At least six bodies of Europe-bound migrants were found on Libya's Mediterranean coast on Friday, while another 90 were intercepted by Libya's coast guard, the UN migration agency said.

Libya has emerged as a major transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe.

Most migrants make the perilous journey in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats.

The UN's International Organisation for Migration tweeted that the bodies washed up on the shores of the Libyan port of al-Khums.

In recent years, the EU has partnered with Libya's coast guard and other local groups to stem the dangerous sea crossings.

Rights groups, however, say those policies leave migrants at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centers rife with abuses.

Separately, Libya's eastern parliament Thursday accused the Italian government of violating the country's sovereignty by flying a drone near the frontlines of the ongoing war between the Tripoli-based UN-backed government and the east-based, self-styled Libyan National Army.

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