On Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Turkey is preparing to send a new batch of Syrian mercenaries to Libya.
The new batch reportedly includes about 75 members of the Syrian National Army. It is expected to arrive in Tripoli at the end of the week.
They are being transported from Turkish-held areas in Northern Syria, to military airports in Turkey, and in turn, transferred to Libya.
It added that another batch of 50 mercenaries stationed in Tripoli are scheduled to be repatriated to Syria. This coincides with the back-and-forth transfer operations of mercenaries from Syria.
According to the Observatory’s sources; the mercenaries will receive $200. Their salaries previously ranged between $500-700, and was $2,500 during the 2020 war in Libya.
The SOHR called for the withdrawal of all Syrians, “who have turned into tools at the hands of the Turkish government” and for their immediate return to Syria.
It also demanded an end to the use of Syrians as mercenaries. It explained that there are Syrian fighters, alongside the Russian Wagner forces.
Last month, the SOHR reported that the Turkish government intended to maintain employing mercenaries, despite international calls for all foreign forces to withdraw from Libya.
An estimated 7,000 Syrian fighters are believed to remain in Libya. However, the October 2020 ceasefire agreement between Libya’s warring parties demanded that all foreign mercenaries be withdrawn within three months of its signing.
Libyan Foreign Minister, Najla Al-Mangoush told Reuters in October that some foreign fighters have left the country. This comes as the government seeks to mobilize international support to withdraw the remaining forces.
Oil-rich Libya has been marred in chaos since the ouster and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.