DAKAR
\nSenegal intercepted 200 \u201cirregular migrants,\u201d the army said Friday, just days after 90 people drowned off the coast of Mauritania while attempting the same crossing.
\nThe Senegalese navy on Friday detained a boat near the northern city of Saint-Louis, the latest in a string of interventions over the last few months.
\nThe West African country\u2019s army last week reported the interception of a boat carrying more than 250 \u201cirregular migrants\u201d from a number of African countries.
\nAt least 25 people died on Monday when a different vessel capsized near Mauritania\u2019s capital Nouakchott, according to the Sahelian country\u2019s state-owned news agency.
\nA Europe-bound boat carrying around 170 people that set off from Senegal capsized off the Mauritanian coast in early July, killing nearly 90 people.
\nThe disaster prompted Senegal\u2019s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko to urge people not to risk the Atlantic Ocean\u2019s currents in overcrowded vessels that often are not seaworthy, and on which they do not carry sufficient drinking water.
\nBut the route is increasingly used as authorities step up surveillance in the Mediterranean.
\nAccording to the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras, more than 5,000 people died trying to reach Spain by sea in the first five months of this year.
\nThat represents the highest daily average toll since it began keeping records in 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAKAR Senegal intercepted 200 \u201cirregular migrants,\u201d the army said Friday, just days after 90 people drowned off the coast of Mauritania while attempting the same crossing. The Senegalese navy on Friday detained a boat near the northern city of Saint-Louis, the latest in a string of interventions over the last few months. The West African […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-420968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n