TUNIS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Tunisian navy on Monday intercepted one Moroccan and 11 Tunisian illegal immigrants off the southeastern coast, said the Ministry of Defense.

The 12 illegal immigrants, aged between 20 and 30, sailing to the Italian coast were intercepted about 40 km northeast of the Djerba island.

The migrants confessed that they sailed from Zarzis, a coastal region in southeastern Tunisia, to Italy's Lampedusa island in the Mediterranean Sea.

Figures from International Organization for Migration show more than 4,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the Mediterranean toward Italian coasts since the beginning of the year.