Growing discontent among Syrians fighting on behalf of the Government for National Accord (GNA) has become a new emerging factor in the Libyan conflict.
Libyan security sources spoke with “Al-Arab” news outlet, claiming that a number of minor skirmishes broke out in various areas in Tripoli between government aligned forces and Syrian fighters.
The latter include the Hadba axis, with forces led by Abdel-Ghani Al-Kikli (Ghnewa), and the Salah Al-Din axis with the 301 ‘Halbous’ battalion led by Abdel-Salam Al-Zoubi.
According to reports, the motives behind these skirmishes were accusations of cowardice and racist insults targeting the Syrian fighters, leading to their refusal to obey orders.
Libya Review has received reports that a number of these fighters have abandoned the war and attempted to illegally migrate to Europe, despite explicit warnings from Italy that they should be stopped from doing so by any means necessary.
Libyan security sources claimed that Turkey was replacing officers and fighters in Libya to avoid clashes between coalition forces.
The same sources indicated that dozens of military and security officers were transferred from Tripoli to Turkey. This was confirmed by the Turkish news agency ‘Anatolia’, which stated that the Turkish authorities “evacuated 63 citizens from Libya” as they arrived at Istanbul airport, last Friday, without revealing their identities.