
Horrifying photographs showing pregnant women and children among dead migrants found in a rubber dinghy has shone a light on the grim reality of the desperate scramble to cross the Mediterranean into Europe.

A Spanish charity found 167 migrants alive and 13 dead in yet another rescue operation involving rubber boats crossing the deadly stretch of sea.

More than 2,200 migrants have died trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean so far this year according to the International Organization for Migration - meaning on average 10 people a day die making the journey.

The latest grim salvation mission was 15 miles off the coast of Sabratha in Libya and the migrants on board were said to be sub-Saharan and the failed journey resulted in more than a dozen deaths.

As some migrants' corpses lie naked in the middle of the dinghy, others can be seen in the pictures sitting around in life-jackets waiting to be rescued.

The European Union has extended the mandate of its naval operation targeting migrant smuggling in the Mediterranean until the end of 2018 and tasked it with monitoring illegal oil trafficking from Libya.

Operation Sophia, which has naval ships and aircraft monitoring the Mediterranean, aims to disrupt smuggling networks and train Libya's coastguard as a way of stemming the flow of desperate migrants attempting the risky crossing from Libya to Italy in unseaworthy boats.

The grim sight of a pile of corpses inside a dinghy as migrants wait to be rescued by aid workers of Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea, about 15 miles north of Sabratha, Libya on Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Aid workers of Proactiva Open Arms recover dead bodies of Sub-Saharan migrants inside a rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea. More than 120 migrants were rescued Tuesday from the Mediterranean Sea while 13 more - including pregnant women and children - died in a crammed rubber raft, according to a Spanish rescue group

The pain is etched upon this mother's face after being rescued along with 167 others trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea

Dozens of migrants wearing bright orange buoyancy aids float in the sea around 15 miles off the coast of Sabratha, Libya

Aid workers carry the dead body of a migrant out of the boat on an orange stretcher as other corpses pile up ready to be carted away

Desperate African migrants, some wearing life jackets and others just with sports shirts on their top halves, hold out their arms begging to be pulled from the sinking dinghy

A dead body is strapped into a stretcher and carried away from the dozens of migrants sat on the rescue boat in the Med

Two young boys sit in a boat after being rescued by aid workers of Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea, about 15 miles north of Sabratha, Libya on Tuesday, July 25, 2017

An African migrant with fear in his eyes tries to reach a rescue boat from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, after being located sailing out of control on a punctured rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea

One migrant holds up two fingers to the camera as dozens of others wait for the dinghy they are travelling on to sink under the surface of the water

The onset of warm weather has seen a surge in migrants boarding boats for the perilous journey across the Mediterranean, putting pressure on rescue services.

Italy's coastguard said more than 8,000 migrants had been rescued off the coast of Libya in a 48-hour period last month.

Most were young people from Cameroon, Sudan, Mali and Senegal, said Libyan navy spokesman General Ayoub Qassem, and were found crammed aboard a makeshift rubber dinghy.

Migrants intercepted or rescued by Libya's coastguard are usually held in detention centres until they are sent home.

But many become prey to extortion and abuse at the hands of human traffickers, who have exploited years of chaos in Libya to boost their lucrative but deadly trade.

More than 90,000 migrants have landed on Italy's shores since January, a 14-percent rise on the same period last year.

Dozens of migrants look scared as the grey rubber dinghy they are travelling upon looks destined to sink to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea

An African migrant in a patterned shirt clambers desperately onto a rescue dingy as charity workers try to drag him on board

Sub-Saharan migrants sit on the deck of a rescue boat after being dragged from the water by Spanish charity workers. Most are topless, but one - seen at the bottom left of the picture - is wearing a Tennessee Titans jersey with the number 28 on it which, up until recently, was worn by running back Chris Johnson

Proactiva Open Arms rescue workers drag yet another body from the water in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast

Libya's UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj has appealed to Italy to send ships into Libyan territorial waters to help combat human trafficking, Rome said Wednesday.

Sarraj 'sent a letter requesting the Italian government provide the technical support of Italian naval units in the joint struggle in Libyan waters against human traffickers,' Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said.

Gentiloni said the ministry of defence was considering the request and 'the options will be discussed with the Libyan authorities and the Italian parliament'.

Should Italy respond positively, 'as I believe is necessary, it could be a very important development in the fight against people trafficking,' he added.

The Italian PM was speaking after a meeting in Rome with Sarraj, the head of the Government of National Authority (GNA), based in the capital Tripoli.

The move would doubtless help cut down the number of migrant boat departures from the coast of crisis-hit Libya and ease the strain on Italy, which has struggled to house the many thousands of people rescued at sea.

Sarraj admitted 'we need to do more so that our coast guard can fight illegal immigration and ensure that we have advanced technologies to control our coasts'.