NOUAKCHOTT, Aug 27, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The Mauritanian coastguard said Thursday that it had rescued more than 160 migrants, including 17 children, from a boat in trouble off its coast, its second major emergency operation in a week.

The migrants were "exhausted by the journey and the insecurity of the vessel" when they were rescued on Tuesday, a coastguard statement said.

Last Friday a coastguard vessel took more than 300 migrants from a boat drifting off the west African country's Atlantic coast.

Hundreds of people, mostly from Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea and Mali, have been rescued in Mauritanian waters in recent months while attempting to reach Europe. Hundreds have also died or gone missing after their boats sank.