KHARTOUM: Some 800 African migrants and a group of smugglers were arrested near Sudan’s border with Libyawhile trying to reach Europe between June and August, security officers told reporters Tuesday. Between June 27 and August 16, security forces arrested 816 African migrants attempting to enter Libya, senior army and police officers said. They included 347 Eritreans, 130 Ethiopians and 90 Sudanese.Ten smugglers were also arrested on August 16 after clashing with security forces near the border. “An officer and two soldiers were killed in the firefight,” army General Aseer Hussein Bashir told a press conference at the defence ministry in Khartoum.”These people will face legal charges, after which they will be deported,” police General AwadDahia said of the migrants who were detained. Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa try to reach Libya daily, from where they embark en masse for Europe on flimsy and overcrowded boats. Sudan is a key transit route for these migrants, especially those arriving from Eritrea. On Tuesday, security forces allowed dozens of migrants who had been arrested to talk to journalists. Eritrean CassinetAbrehelli told AFP he had arrived in Khartoum five months ago. “A month ago, I left Khartoum in a small truck. My plan was to travel to Libya and then to Europe,” he said. “I travelled for seven days in the desert before we were arrested by the Sudanese army on August 16.”Behind him dozens of migrants sat in a tent put up in the defence ministry complex.