Cairo: In an overnight raid, security forces in eastern Libya released at least 385 Pakistani migrants who were being held in warehouses used for human trafficking, a migrant rights organisation reported on Monday.

The Pakistani nationals were reportedly freed early on Monday from smugglers' warehouses in the Al-Khueir region, about 5 miles (8 kilometres) south of the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk, according to the aid organisation Al-Abreen. Later, the migrants, some of whom were children, were taken to a nearby police station, according to a post on its official Facebook page.

The Associated Press was informed by Esreiwa Salah of Al-Abreen that Pakistani migrants had arrived in Libya with the intention of travelling to Europe but had been detained by smugglers who demanded a ransom for their release. No more information was provided.

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Dozens of allegedly released Pakistani migrants could be seen sitting outside of a warehouse in several photos posted on Al-Abreen's Facebook page.

The most popular transit country for migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa and the Middle East is Libya. After a NATO-backed uprising that overthrew and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, the nation descended into chaos. Rival governments in eastern and western Libya, each supported by a variety of militias and foreign governments, have ruled the oil-rich nation of Libya for the majority of the past ten years.

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The decade of unrest has benefited human traffickers, who have smuggled migrants across borders from six countries, including Egypt, Algeria, and Sudan. Then, they cram desperate people travelling to Europe in search of a better life into ill-equipped rubber boats and other vessels for perilous journeys along the Central Mediterranean Sea route.

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A ship that left Libya in June with an estimated 700 migrants aboard, including about 350 Pakistanis, sank off the coast of Greece. Only 104 people were saved, including 12 Pakistanis. A severe economic crisis in Pakistan is forcing thousands of people, mostly young men, to look for employment abroad. Many people go to Libya in the hope of eventually arriving in Europe.