Two vehicles carrying 196 refugees of various nationalities were stopped by border forces near the Egyptian-Libyan border on Tuesday morning, according to the Egyptian army. The vehicles were intercepted 50 kilometres from the Libyan border in the Northern Coast of Egypt, south of the town of Al-Salloum. The vehicles a Toyota Land Cruiser and an open-backed Mercedes lorr, contained 33 and 163 refugees respectively. An automatic weapon and ammunition were found in one vehicle, alongside a Thuraya satellite telephone. It is unclear whether the traffickers were arrested alongside the refugees. These arrests come almost a fortnight after a joint military cooperation agreement between Egypt and Libya was signed. The agreement aiming to prevent illegal immigration and weapons smuggling over the border, strengthened Egyptian military presence in border areas. The Egyptian Military spokesperson was not available for comment.
