A major crackdown in western Libya has resulted in the detention of at least 4,000 migrants, including hundreds of women and children, officials said Saturday. The U.N. said at least one young migrant was shot dead and 15 others injured, including two in serious conditions, in the crackdown. The raids took place Friday in the western town of Gargaresh as part of what authorities described as a security campaign against illegal migration and drug trafficking. The Interior Ministry, which led the crackdown, made no mention of any traffickers or smugglers being arrested. Officials said Friday that 500 illegal migrants had been detained but on Saturday reported that number had reached 4,000. Gargaresh, a known hub for migrants and refugees, is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) west of Tripoli, the Libyan capital. The town has seen several waves of raids on migrants over the years, but the latest one was described by activists as the fiercest so far. Read: Italian vessel rescues 65 from migrant boat fleeing Libya Since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, hoping for a better life in Europe. Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos in the oil-rich nation and smuggled migrants through the country’s lengthy border with six nations. They then pack desperate migrants into ill-equipped rubber boats in risky voyages through the perilous Central Mediterranean Sea route. The detained were gathered in a facility in Tripoli called the Collection and Return Center, said police Col. Nouri al-Grettli, head of the center. He said the migrants have been distributed to detention centers in Tripoli and surrounding towns. Libya’s detention facilities are miserable, overcrowded places where migrants have suffered from abuses and severe ill-treatment, according to rights activists. A government official said authorities would “deport as many as possible” of the migrants to their home countries. He said many of the detained had lived illegally in Libya for years. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. Read: Many migrants staying in US even as expulsion flights rise Tarik Lamloum, a Libyan activist working with the Belaady Organization for Human Rights, said the raids involved human rights violations against the migrants, especially in the way some women and children were detained. Lamloum said many detained migrants have been registered with the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, as refugees or asylum-seekers. Vincent Cochetel, the agency’s special envoy for the Central Mediterranean, told The Associated Press that initial reports were that at least one person was killed and 15 injured in the crackdown. He said in some cases security personnel used excessive force and drove people out of their homes. “We should not be surprised if people are scared and will try to leave by sea,” he said. Georgette Gagnon, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for Libya, said unarmed migrants were harassed in their homes, beaten and shot in the crackdown which has also seen a communication blackout in Gargaresh. Among the injured were five by gunshots with two of them being treated in an intensive care unit, she said in a statement late Saturday. Read:Options shrink for Haitian migrants straddling Texas border The statement didn’t elaborate further details. The crackdown comes amid a spike in crossings and attempted crossings of the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Libya’s coast guard has intercepted around 25,300 migrants and returned them to Libya’s shores so far this year. Over 1,100 migrants were reported dead or presumed dead off Libya in the first nine months of 2021, but that number is believed to be higher, according to the U.N. migration agency. Hundreds of migrants were seen in images posted on social media Friday by the Interior Ministry sitting clustered together in a yard with the banner of the Collection and Return Center in the background. Other images from Gargaresh purporting to show migrants show them with their hands tied behind their backs. An aerial photo showed men lying face down on the ground at a crossroads, with military trucks and guards around them.

Bangladesh has expressed concern over the increased crimes, human and drug trafficking and unrest in the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar as their stay in Bangladesh is prolonging. Bangladesh urged Myanmar as well as the international community to take effective steps to sustainably repatriate the Rohingyas to Myanmar at the earliest, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday. Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen condemned the murder of Mohib Ullah, who was a widely recognized leader of the Rohingyas staying in Bangladesh. Mohib Uullah was an avowed supporter of the repatriation of the Rohingyas to Myanmar, according to a message shared by the MoFA on its verified Facebook page. The government of Bangladesh is committed to investigating the heinous crime and bringing the killers to justice, the message reads. Also read: Rohingya leader Mohibullah assassinated Earlier in the morning, the Foreign Minister vowed to bring the killers of Mohib Ullah to justice soon, in his first remarks since the Rohingya leader's murder sparked global condemnation. Dr Momen said a vested quarter killed Mohib as he wanted to return to Myanmar, his homeland. "The government will take stern action against those who were involved in the killing. Nobody will be spared," he said. On Thursday night, police registered a murder case in connection with the killing of Mohib Ullah at Ukhiya camp in Cox's Bazar on Wednesday night. The FIR for murder was filed against unknown persons at the Ukhiya police station on a complaint from Mohib Ullah’s brother Habib Ullah, officer-in-charge Sanjur Morshed had said. Unknown assailants gunned down the 44-year-old on Wednesday night. He was first rushed to a local medical facility and later shifted to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Read: Mohib's murder: FIR lodged, probe in full swing, say police He was buried in Lambashia camp-1 in Ukhiya upazila on Thursday afternoon after his namaz-e-janaza, which was attended by a large number of Rohingya refugees from camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas. Formerly a teacher in Myanmar, the slain human rights activist was popularly known as Master Mohib Ullah among the Rohingya refugees. He was the head of Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH) at Kutupalong camp.

The U.S. Treasury said Thursday that it has blacklisted a Guatemalan mayor and a drug trafficking organization related to him.