303 Egyptians fleeing Libya arrive in Cairo

An Egypt Air flight carrying 303 Egyptians from Libya arrived in Cairo Monday, the second flight since evacuation of Egyptians started last week.

The fleeing Egyptians had to cross the Libyan-Tunisian border to depart for Egypt from Tunisia's Djerba International Airport, Al Ahram reported.

They passed by a security check at Cairo International Airport in order to make sure no one infiltrated with them and that none fled court verdicts.

The evacuation came following Libyan-coordinated Egyptian airstrikes that hit 13 Islamic State (IS) terror group targets Feb 16 in retaliation for the beheading of 21 Egyptians in Libya by the IS as shown in a video.

Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamel had said there would be four flights ready to evacuate up to 2,000 Egyptians.

The first flight carried 192 Egyptians to Cairo last Friday.

The evacuation planes landed in Tunisia due to the difficulty of landing in unstable Libya where militias are fighting.

Meanwhile thousands of Egyptians are returning from Libya through the Western Salloum border crossing.

Nearly 170,000 Egyptians returned from Libya in 2011, and in 2014 72,745 Egyptians have returned.

For decades, Libya has been a major destination for Egyptian migrant workers due to its once booming oil economy, geographical proximity and open borders.

According to official reports, no official number exists for Egyptian workers in Libya because large numbers have travelled illegally to the country, but the number stands between 800,000 and 900,000.