The EU border agency Frontex is stepping up intelligence gathering of migrants pulled from the Mediterranean in an effort to identify terrorist suspects and criminals. On 1 February, Frontex launched its Themis mission, one component of which is an empahisis on greater intelligence gathering and "other steps aimed at detecting foreign fighters and other terrorist threats at the external borders," a Frontex spokesperson said. The operational zone of the Themis mission covers the Central Mediterranean, including areas around Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Turkey and Albania.