TUNIS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia foiled 16 illegal immigration attempts to cross the Mediterranean to Italy on Monday and retrieved five bodies, according to a statement by the Tunisian National Guard.

The statement on its Facebook page said those immigration attempts were thwarted off the southeastern coast of Sfax province.

During the operations, 663 immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa were rescued from sinking boats, said the statement, without giving the total number of the immigrants who were trying to cross the Mediterranean toward Italy.

It added that 12 other wanted persons and two steel boats were seized in the operations.

In recent months, Tunisian security has intensified efforts to combat illegal immigration heading towards the Italian island of Lampedusa, expanding operations from the southeastern province of Sfax to other provinces.

Situated about 130 km from the Tunisian coastline, the island of Lampedusa is often chosen as the first stop for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to make illegal sea voyages to Italy. Enditem

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