A total of 990 Egyptians fleeing war-torn Libya have returned home on Saturday through the Libyan-Egyptian border crossing and onboard two EgyptAir planes. Two planes landed in Cairo International Airport on Saturday carrying a total of 522 passengers. This raises the number of Egyptians coming to Cairo through EgyptAir flights to 9547 since mid-February. Meanwhile, 468 Egyptians crossed the Salloum crossing, connecting Libya with Egypt, in the past 24 hours, MENA reported. Over 13, 000 Egyptians have crossed the Salloum crossing in the past month. Egypt has drawn up evacuation plans for its citizens in Libya who wish to leave the war-torn country since Egypt launched airstrikes in February against IS militant positions in Libya's Derna, in collaboration with Libya's government. The Egyptian strikes came in retaliation to the IS militants beheading 20 Coptic Egyptians. In recent statements, Egyptian minister of manpower Nahed Al-Ashry said no official number exists of Egyptian workers in Libya because large numbers travel illegally to the oil-rich North African country. However, she estimated the number stands between 800,000 and 900,000. Since the 2011 toppling of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, rival militias have been fighting a weak central government across the country. Instability in Libya earlier prompted many Egyptian workers to return to Egypt, though many others have remained. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/124669.aspx
