CAIRO, Aug 28 (Aswat Masriya) - Egyptian border guard forces have thwarted illegal migration attempts by 366 people, the Egyptian armed forces spokesperson announced on Sunday.

According to army spokesperson Mohamed Samir, 268 persons of different nationalities were captured at Abu Qir town, the port city of Rosetta and Burullus city while trying to flee the country.

The army also stopped 91 people at al-Saloum city, and seven people at Abu Ramada town as they were attempting to migrate illegally.

This is not the first time that the Egyptian military has announced foiling illegal migration attempts in the past few months, as hundreds have been arrested  for attempting to exit the country irregularly.

Earlier in August, the military spokesman said that Egyptian border guard forces stopped 146 persons before they could set sail from the country's coasts on a fishing boat en route to Europe. 

In April, Italy said that a boat capsized off Egypt's coast killing hundreds of migrants.

Illegal migration to Europe has largely increased in recent years, as conflicts and dire economic conditions in the Middle East and African countries pushed millions of migrants and refugees to cross over to Europe to flee poverty and war.