Dhaka, May 19 -- A group of 170 Bangladeshi nationals, who were stranded in Libya's Benghazi after attempting to reach Europe by sea, have been repatriated.

The returnees touched down at Shahjalal International Airport aboard a chartered Buraq Air flight early on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The repatriation was executed through a joint initiative of the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, with the assistance of the Libyan government and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a ministry statement said.

Most of the returnees had entered Libya illegally with the help of human traffickers, aiming to cross the ...