EASTERN Libyan authorities have forced hundreds of Sudanese back to their war-torn home country, officials said on Saturday, in a crackdown on migrants fleeing towards Europe.

Around 700 Sudanese, who were detained recently in central and south eastern Libya, were deported Friday by land to Sudan, the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration in eastern Libya said.

The directorate’s statement claimed some of deportees were suffering from infectious diseases including hepatitis and Aids. Others were removed because of criminal convictions or for “security reasons,” it said, without elaborating.

The deportation is part of an ongoing crackdown campaign on migrant trafficking in eastern Libya, which is controlled by the forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Eastern Libya’s coastguard week said last week it had intercepted a boat carrying 80 Europe-bound migrants off the eastern city of Tobruk.

The campaign includes raids on trafficking hubs across eastern and southern Libya. A raid earlier this month freed 104 Sudanese migrants who were held in a trafficking warehouse in the town of Ajdabiya, about 480 miles east of the capital, Tripoli, according to town security authorities.

Libya, which is mostly split between the UN-backed Government of National Unity and the Haftar-controlled Government of National Stability, was plunged into chaos following a Nato-organised uprising that toppled and killed long-time leader Colonel Muammar Gadaffi in 2011.