TUNIS: The bodies of two migrants have been found in a desert region near Tunisia`s border with Algeria, a judicial official and a witness said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan countries have fled or been forced out of Tunisia`s port city of Sfax after racial tensions flared following the July 3 killing of a Tunisian man in an altercation between locals and migrants.

Many have been left to fend for themselves in harsh conditions in remote desert areas near Tunisia`s borders with Algeria and with Libya.

Around 10 days ago one body was found in the Hazoua desert, near Algeria`s border, and another was discovered on Monday night, Nizar Sl(ander, a spokesman for the court in the south-eastern Tozeur district, said.

`Both bodies are of men, and rescuers have recovered the one found yesterday,` a witness, who declined to be identified for security reasons, added.

The witness, a local merchant, said that in one week two convoys were seen transporting migrants to the desert, with nearly 100 left in the vicinity of Hazoua.

`Many of these migrants are trying to reach oases in the area where residents give them food and water, the witness said.

Skander said the authorities have launched a `dubious death` investigation to determine the exact cause of the two fatalities.

Youssouf Bilayer, 25, of Ivory Coast, said on Tuesday that he was arrested on July 4 in Sfax where he had worked for four years as a welder and was taken to the Gafsa area near the border with Algeria.

`We were in six buses and they left us in the forest they made us get out by beating us,` he said. His group of six people was now moving northwards.-AFP