BENGHAZI, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Libya's eastern security authority has repatriated 602 migrants to Chad as part of a campaign focusing on the "protection of homeland and border," a spokesperson for the interior ministry's agency tasked with tackling illegal migration said.
The spokesperson, Abdulmenam al-Ghomati, said those repatriated on Wednesday were apprehended during recent security operations, along with others who attempted to enter Libyan territory illegally.
Security forces apprehended the migrants in different cities and areas under the Libyan National Army of military commander Khalifa Haftar, which controls the east and large parts of the south of the country.
Libya, now split between rival authorities in the east and west of the country, has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert and over the Mediterranean since the toppling of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in an uprising in 2011.
Ghomati said the repatriation process took one and a half days, with people being taken by trucks to the border with Chad.
Pictures from the media office of the anti-illegal migration agency in Benghazi, the second-largest city in the North African country, showed pickup vehicles loaded with tens of migrants in a remote area being deported to Chad.
Ghomati confirmed that the campaign is continuing, in accordance with orders from the deputy commander-in-chief, Saddam Haftar, to raid and clear out homes rented by migrants within residential neighbourhoods.
The oil-rich country's 100 municipalities are thought to harbour well over 900,000 migrants, according to UN data collected in May and June.
(Reporting by Ayman al-Werfalli; Writing by Ahmed Elumami; Editing by Hugh Lawson)