ANKARA, Nov 19: Turkish security forces have rounded up 64 Pakistani would-be illegal immigrants, two Greek sailors and two Turks in a human-smuggling operation in the Aegean province of Izmir, local security sources said on Wednesday.

A naval unit from the local paramilitary police stopped a boat carrying the Pakistanis to a ship waiting off the coast near the resort town of Cesme late on Tuesday, an official told AFP.

The two Greek sailors of the ship, who were apparently planning to take the illegals to Greece, and two Turks who were helping the Pakistanis board the vessel were handed over to judicial authorities on suspicion of human-trafficking, he said.—AFP