South African police and soldiers on Thursday arrested nearly 200 illegal immigrants, media reported.

The criminal roundup came amid efforts by police to focus on immigrant neighbourhoods to prevent further xenophobic violence.

The media said that the arrest started after no fewer than seven migrants from other African countries were killed in such violence earlier this month.

''The migrants were arrested in the Thembelihle informal settlement, south of Johannesburg, which had been identified as a criminal hotspot,’’ police spokesman, Kay Makhubela said.

Police seized a firearm, drugs and pirated CDs.

Report says South Africans accuse migrants of taking scarce jobs, leading to attack of citizens of Zimbabwe, Malawi, Somalia and other countries in Johannesburg and Durban earlier this month.

However, police pledged to prevent such incidents, while the government announced the deployment of soldiers in parts of Johannesburg.