Libyan Coast Guard rescued 158 illegal migrants in two separate operations off the western coast on Sunday, the Libyan Navy reported.

In the first operation, a patrol boat found 73 migrants (40 men, 25 women and 8 children) and recovered bodies of a woman and a kid after their rubber boat capsized 14 miles north of Qarabulli town, east of Tripoli.

Around 25 migrants are still missing. The migrants on board the rubber boat were from Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire.

In the second rescue operation, the Coast Guard rescued 85 migrant including 75 men, 5 women and 5 children after the motor of their boat broke down off Khoms city.

The migrants were from Sudan, Chad, Bangladesh, Egypt, Niger, Somalia, Burkina Faso, and Libya.

A new wave of migrants heading to EU shores is expected to emerge due to the current fighting in southern Tripoli, coupled with suitable summer conditions.