Tunisia's maritime guards on Tuesday rescued 41 undocumented immigrants from sinking boats and retrieved one body off the country's eastern coast, said the Tunisian National Guard, Paralel.Az reports.

The national guard said in a statement via its Facebook account that the illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa were rescued off the coast of Sfax province.

It added that nine other wanted persons and two steel boats were also seized in the operations.

The statement didn't give the total number of those who tried to cross the Mediterranean illegally toward the Italian island of Lampedusa.

In recent months, Tunisian security has intensified efforts to combat illegal immigration towards the Italian island. Situated about 130 km from the Tunisian coastline, the island is often chosen as the first stop for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to make illegal sea voyages to Italy.