Updated

A senior EU official says the bloc is moving forward with plans to hunt down people-smugglers and destroy their boats, and hopes to launch detailed planning of the operation next week.

The EU is canvassing the U.N. Security Council to secure a resolution next week permitting aggressive action against the smugglers responsible for bringing thousands of migrants to Europe's shores.

The official said Tuesday that EU foreign ministers hope to have a resolution by Monday meeting "to ensure that we can have coercive action towards the smugglers and the traffickers."

The official has close knowledge of the operation planning process but is not permitted to speak publicly about it.

He said that Britain, France, Poland and Spain are likely to provide ships or planes, while Slovenia has also expressed interest.