Over 100 migrants have been disembarked at the AFM maritime base in Haywharf following their rescue by an Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat early on Tuesday.   

An AFM spokeswoman confirmed that 106 people were rescued from a boat in distress in the southern part of the Maltese search and rescue zone.

The rescue followed an alert from the migrant helpline NGO Alarm Phone, who tweeted that they had received reports about what they believed to be 97 people who had fled Libya by boat.

“We informed the Maltese authorities, but have not received info about any rescue activities. We lost contact with the people several hours ago. We hope they are safe!” they had tweeted.

Times of Malta reported on Monday how, according to Alarm Phone, four boats carrying around 215 migrants from war-torn Libya were “stuck” in Malta’s search and rescue (SAR) zone in the past week.

A spokesperson for the Armed Forces of Malta said two boats carrying 115 people, including women and children, were brought ashore early on Friday morning.

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