Moroccan navy rescues 60 migrants in Atlantic

Morocco's navy rescued more than 60 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa when their boat got into difficulties in the Atlantic off Tarfaya, the official MAP news agency reported on Friday.

"A Royal Navy unit intercepted a boat in difficulty, with 67 candidates for irregular migration" to Europe on board, some 100 kilometres north of Tarfaya, a military souece told MAP.

Spain's Canary Islands are only about 150 kilometres (90 miles) off southern Morocco.

Those rescued, among them a woman and three minors, were given first aid before being taken to the port of Laayoune in the disputed Western Sahara on Friday for processing, MAP said.

On Tuesday, the navy intercepted more than 50 sub-Saharan African migrants off the kingdom's southwest coast.

That interception came a day after a military source told MAP the navy had recovered the bodies of five migrants and rescued 189 others after their boat capsized off the Western Sahara.

Moroccan authorities said they foiled 26,000 irregular migration attempts in the first five months of the year.

Atlantic crossings began surging in late 2019 after increased patrols along Europe's southern coast dramatically reduced Mediterranean crossings.

The Canary Islands migratory route has experienced a marked upsurge in activity in recent weeks.