The wording of the UN resolution still has to be finalised but a strategy paper drawn up by the EU this week said that military operations ashore involving special forces units may be required in order to destroy the traffickers' assets, including fuel dumps.

The UN resolution will be circulated after Philip Hammond and his fellow EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss options for military force against the smuggling networks.

The formal decision to set up the mission is expected to be taken at that meeting, with ministers then expected to ask European military commanders to draw up plans.

^{Royal Marines help migrants disembark from an inflatable boat onto a landing craft of HMS Bulwark after being rescued around 40 miles off the coast of Libya}

The operation would then be launched at an EU summit in June.

The UN resolution is required in order to provide international legal cover for military operations outside EU territory or waters.

"The point will be to dismantle the business model of these people who are making millions of dollars out of this awful trade," a senior Security Council diplomat said.

The main objective will be to destroy smugglers' boats, in military operations modelled on the successful campaign waged against Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.

The Security Council may not vote on the resolution before next month because Russian fears about destabilising Libya further need to be addressed.

The resolution is expected to outline three geographical areas for military action to destroy smuggling networks - the high seas of the Mediterranean, Libya's territorial waters and the Libyan coast.

The third area will be the most contentious as it could involve the use of special forces going ashore to target boats in ports and on beaches, or even the bases and holding camps used by smuggling gangs - despite previous assurances from diplomats that there will be "no boots on the ground".

The UN is not debating the specifics of any military action.

That will fall to Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, working with EU member states in Brussels.

But the UN resolution would make clear that military action would be part of a broad maritime-based operation led by EU naval forces, a senior Security Council diplomat said.

"We're moving here in parallel with moves in Brussels," the official added.

Russia, which has a veto power at the world body, has objected to the use of the word "destroy" in relation to the smugglers' boats.

To overcome Moscow's objections, the resolution may instead give approval to moves to "inspect, seize and render inoperable" the boats.

"The model for this is the operation against Somali pirates. There will not be some sort of ground invasion," the diplomat said.

But European forces conducting lightning raids could still find themselves under fire from heavily-armed Libyan militias and smugglers if they set foot on beaches or in harbours along the coast.

They could be attacked by "heavy military armaments (including coastal artillery batteries) and military-capable militias," the EU strategy paper warned, as well as terrorists such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), which has a presence in parts of Libya.

EU leaders are also seeking to secure support from the Libyan authorities for the UN-mandated military action.

^{An illegal migrant prays beside others in Quwaiya detention center, east of Tripoli}

But that is a big challenge because the country does not have a functioning central administration.

Its internationally-recognised government has been driven out of the capital Tripoli and is based in the eastern coastal city of Tobruk.

European leaders were prompted to act after a series of tragedies in the Mediterranean, including the sinking last month of a smugglers' boat with an estimated 800 migrants locked in the hold and lower deck.

Only 28 people survived the sinking, including two alleged smugglers who are now in prison in Sicily awaiting trial.

In total, around 1,800 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean so far this year.

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^{Mapped: Migrant deaths attempting to reach Europe by sea since 2000}