Eurasia Press & News
In light of the Libyan-Libyan discussions to grant confidence to the new Government of National Unity, the mercenaries who are still maintained in Libya hinder stability in the country. It is worth noting that 6,750 Syrian fighters of Turkish-backed factions are still in Libya, and the operations which have taken place since November were only change of shifts, as some batches has returned to Syria while other batches have been sent to Libya. The presence of foreign mercenaries in Libya continues despite all international demands and the Libyan-Libyan agreement and the end of the deadline given to foreign mercenaries to leave Libya. According to the Libyan-Libyan agreement, foreign fighters (mercenaries) were supposed to withdraw from Libya within three months after the ceasefire came into force on October 23, 2020.
On the other hand, nearly 2,000 other Syrian mercenaries recruited by the Russian company of “Wagner” and sent to Libya for guarding affiliated facilities are still there, as Russia offers relatively high salaries, exploiting the dire living conditions in Syria.
According to SOHR statistics, the number of recruits who arrived in Libya approximated 18,000 Syrian mercenaries, including 350 children under the age of 18, of whom 10,750 returned to Syria after completing the duration of their contracts and receiving their financial dues. While the number of jihadists who were transported from Syria to Libya reached 10,000, of whom there were 2,500 Tunisians.
It is worth noting that the number of fatalities among the Turkish-backed Syrian factions in Libya reached 496.
A few days ago, Syrian mercenaries, sent by the Turkish government to Libya to guard Turkey’s regional interests, are still present there, as the return of mercenaries has been still halted, despite the international demands and Libyan-Libyan agreement. In the meantime, Nasr Al-Hariri’s statements are completely divorced from the situation on the ground, as the head of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces said, a few days ago, in a press conference in Syria’s embassy in Qatar “the Syrian National Coalition, the Interim Government and the National Army are not related to the reports on sending foreign fighters to Libya, as no one from the National Army has been sent to Libya. We are not responsible for other fighters who may have been entered Libya in other ways.”
If the Syrian National Coalition and the National Army are not a part of transformation of Syrian fighters to Libya, then who have sent more than 18,000 mercenaries to Libya, mostly are militiamen of the National Army’s factions.
