As many as 159 people, including 9 Sudanese and one Bengali nationals, were arrested while attempting to sneak into Libya across the border, the Matrouh security chief said Saturday.

The would-be infiltrators - that grouped people from several Egyptian governorates - were referred to the prosecution, Hisham Lotfi said.

Meanwhile, Lotfi said 184 Egyptians returned home from Libya over the past 24 hours.

Out of the 184, 147 Egyptians entered and left Libya with valid documents, while the rest illegally entered the North African nation.

Egypt does utmost to control its border with war-torn Libya where illegal migrants from African countries make threatening-life bids to travel to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.