Turkey Detains 200 Afghan Migrants En Route to Italy: Coastguard

Afghan refugees rest in an old abandoned beach house as they wait to board a dinghy sailing off for the Greek island of Chios, while they try to travel from the western Turkish coastal town of Cesme in Izmir province, Turkey, on March 6, 2016. Umit Bektas/Reuters

ISTANBUL—Turkish authorities have intercepted a boat carrying more than 200 Afghan migrants in the Aegean sea heading for Europe, Turkey’s coastguard and the International Organization for Migration said on Wednesday.

The interception near Turkey’s western shores came as hundreds of Afghans cross into eastern Turkey from Iran, after a rise in violence in their own country as the United States and its NATO allies withdraw and Taliban terrorists seize territory.