On Tuesday, the Director of Moral Guidance in the Libyan National Army (LNA), Major General Khaled Al-Mahjoub, stated that foreign mercenaries have begun to leave Libya’s western region.
In a statement, Al-Mahjoub said that more than 3,000 mercenaries, mostly Syrian nationals, have departed from Libya. Simultaneously, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) stated that many Syrians had already begun returning to north-west Syria.
Al-Mahjoub’s comments come at a time when Turkey has been accused of sending mercenaries to Azerbaijan. Baku has denied accusations that Syrian mercenaries have been deployed to the country, to fight neighbouring Armenia. Several publications have claimed these militants are already inside the country and participating in the battle against the Karabakh Republic forces.
On Monday, SOHR sources confirmed that a new batch of 1,400 mercenaries returned to Syria. According to SOHR statistics, the number of recruits who arrived in Libya rose to nearly 18,000 fighters, including 350, under the age of 18. Among those 18,000 mercenaries, 8,500 returned to Syria after receiving their financial dues. It is believed that the number of jihadists transported from Syria to Libya, were 10,000, including 2,500 Tunisian extremists.