Turkish-backed mercenaries | Brokers continue encouraging Syrians to join fighting in Libya under Turkey’s command in return for money
Syrian Observatory continues monitoring and tracking Turkey’s transfer of Syrian mercenaries to Libya, at a time when recruitment operations are escalating in camps in areas under the control of Turkish forces and their proxies in Idlib and Aleppo.
According to SOHR sources, brokers continue attracting men and very young men in refugee camps, as well as fighters to join the fighting in Libya under Turkey’s command in return for large financial incentives, exploiting the dire living conditions and the economic hardship in these areas.
A broker takes 100 to 300 USD for each fighter he convinces to join the groups being prepared to be sent to Libya. Such recruitment operations are still on the march, despite the massive number of mercenaries that have been transported from Syria to Libya.
On Thursday, SOHR sources monitored the arrival of a new batch of mercenaries in Libya, as the Turkish government continued sending mercenaries of Turkish-backed Syrian factions to Libya in order to join the military operations on the side of the “Government of National Accord” against the “Libyan National Army” led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
The new batch comprised nearly 300 fighters affiliated to the factions of “Sultan Murad, Al-Hamza Division, and Sultan Suleiman Shah”
According to SOHR statistics, the number of recruits who arrived in Libya rose to nearly 17,300 Syrian mercenaries, including 350 children under the age of 18, of whom 6,000 returned to Syria after completing the duration of their contracts and receiving their financial dues. Meanwhile, Turkey has been recruiting more mercenaries, bringing them to Turkish territory to undergo military training.
It is worth noting that the number of jihadists who were transported from Syria to Libya reached 10,000, of whom there were 2,500 Tunisians
Meanwhile, the number of Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries killed in military operations in Libya rose to nearly 481, including 34 children under the age of eighteen, as well as some group commanders.