More than 4,000 migrants, including pregnant women and children, have been found trapped in camps in Libya, caught amid fighting over a major transit area for human smuggling.

The migrants were found during the past two days at different spots in the north-western city of Sabratha, where powerful militias were paid by Italy to stop trafficking.

The al-Ammu militia, which struck a deal with Italy and Libya to halt trafficking, was accused by Anti-Isis Operation Room of storing the migrants to smuggle them later.

The forces of Anti-Isis Operation Room, which now controls Sabratha, have been clashing with al-Ammu for the past two weeks for control of the city.