A Bulgarian hunting party captured fifty illegal immigrants near the country's border with Turkey over the weekend.

The party, which numbered 19 men, set out from the village of Evrenozovo near the town of Malko Tarnovo on Saturday to hunt game.

The hunters had been walking for hours into the forest when they heard a loud conversation near the border, private NOVA TV informs.

Then they saw a group of around forty people seated near the border, who panicked at the sight of the armed men.

According to the hunters, the group consisted of Afghan men aged between 20 and 30 years, who did not look like refugees.

None of the migrants was in the possession of identity documents.

The inhabitants of the nearby villages claim that Afghan citizens constituted the majority of the migrants passing through the region in the past weeks.

According to unofficial information, Turkish smugglers provided migrants with tablets, which they would use to navigate their way on the paths through Strandzha mountain.

The hunters admire at the courage of the three border police officers, who responded to their signal.

One of the hunters admitted that he will be personally frightened at the sight of 30 tough, young men.

In the past days, the number of people detained by Bulgarian border policemen has amounted to at least 200 per day.