ALGIERS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The Algerian army arrested 95 illegal immigrants in various operations, the defense ministry said Sunday.
Algeria's coast guards in Oran Province, 400 km northwest of the capital Algiers, foiled an attempt to illegally smuggle 18 people on a boat, according to a ministry statement.
In another operation, the army arrested 63 illegal immigrants of different nationalities in the province of Tlemcen in the far northwest of the country, on the borders with neighboring Morocco.
The army also arrested 14 illegal immigrants in the province of Tamanrasset in far southern Algeria.
Illegal immigration by sea has become a problem for the Algerian authorities as a huge number of local and foreign people have been arrested aboard makeshift boats attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea for a better life.
