UPDATE- Nearly 400 undocumented migrants held in Turkey

UPDATES WITH NUMBER OF MIGRANTS HELD

By Salih Baran, Necat Hazar and Ferdi Uzun

EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) - A total of 396 undocumented migrants were held across Turkey, security sources said on Wednesday.

Border guards held 218 migrants in the northwestern Edirne province’s Meric and Lalapasa districts, according to a security source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Among the migrants were Afghani, Pakistani, Palestinian, Iraqi, Moroccan, Algerian, Sri Lankan and Vietnamese nationals.

In the eastern province of Van, gendarmerie units rounded up a total of 87 undocumented migrants, a security source said.

Out of the 87 migrants, 81 of them were Afghan nationals and 6 of them were Pakistani nationals who entered into the country by illegal means.

Separately, coast guard teams intercepted a group of migrants attempting to illegally cross to Greek islands via rubber boat in the Aegean Sea off the coast of western Izmir's Seferihisar district, holding some 41 Syrian national migrants.

In the Didim district of the Aegean province of Aydin, 43 undocumented migrants -- all Syrian nationals -- were held by security forces.

Later, customs officials detected seven undocumented Iraqi migrants, who were wrapped in aluminum foil inside a truck at Istanbul's Pendik Ro-Ro Port.

The migrants were sent to a provincial migration authority.

Turkey has been a main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the civil war in Syria.