Italian coast guard rescues around 2,000 migrants from Mediterranean

A total of around 2,000 migrants were rescued from rubber boats and wooden vessels in the Mediterranean on February 3 and February 4, the Italian coast guard said, releasing video of the rescue operations.

Nine rescue operations were carried out on Saturday (Feb 3) to pull more than 600 migrants to safety, the coast guard said. The migrants were rescued from seven rubber boats and two small vessels, the coastguard added.

Meanwhile, on Friday more than 1,300 migrants were rescued in 13 operations, the coast guard said.

According to the coast guard, the migrants were travelling on ten rubber boats, two small wooden boats and one larger boat.

No details of the migrants' origin, gender or age were released.

The arrivals came as European leaders on Friday offered Libya money and other assistance to try to curb record migrant flows from the North African country. Aid groups criticised the move, saying such plans exposed migrants to further risks and abuses.

(Reuters)