Some 1,759 migrants have been picked up off the coast of Sicily in ten separate rescue missions, the Italian navy, or Marina Militare, said Friday. 
The operations were conducted Thursday, a statement said. 
One navy boat with 698 migrants was due to dock in the Sicilian port of Augusta on Saturday, while the others were transferred onto other vessels operated by the Doctors Without Borders charity, EU border agency Frontex, Italian tax police and coast guard. 
According to the International Organization for Migration, as of Tuesday 28,563 migrants had landed in Italy in 2016. The most common nationalities among recent arrivals were Nigerian, Gambian, Senegalese, Guinean and Ivorian.

Source: QNA)