The Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) brought another two boatloads of illegal migrants ashore within hours of each other yesterday, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

A group of 28 was picked up at sea by a foreign fishing boat. The Nuova Campisi took aboard five immigrants found in the water and took the rest on tow in their boat. They were located some 47 nautical miles south-east of Malta at around 10.15 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

The migrant group, composed of 23 men and five women, was then transferred to the Maritime Squadron's patrol boat and brought in at Haywharf in the early hours of the morning.

Another group of 28 was intercepted by a patrol boat some four miles off Għar Lapsi, having been spotted by civilians in the morning. The group was composed of 26 men, two women and two boys.

The AFM said that fighting and arguing on board the boat caused it to take in water, forcing the Maritime Squadron to dispatch a patrol boat and fast search and rescue launch to the area.

Some were taken aboard the patrol boat while the remainder were escorted back to Haywharf.

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