On Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that 7 Syrian fighters, who were sent by Turkey as mercenaries to fight in Libya, drowned in the Libyan territorial waters in the Mediterranean Sea when they trying to cross to Europe.
In a statement, the SOHR added that a big number of pro-Ankara Syrian mercenaries are pursuing their endeavours to reach Europe, as was the case with dozens of their fellow Syrians who have already gone from Libya to Italy and other European countries.
The observatory indicated that a new batch of some 550 fighters returned from Libya to Syria during the past week, after completing the duration of their contracts. In fact, the Turkish government had turned them into mercenaries and threw them into military operations in Libya for serving Turkey’s regional interests.
On the other hand, SOHR cited confirmed reports as saying that there are disagreements among the Syrian fighters in Libya over delayed payments of their monthly salaries by some group commanders.
According to SOHR’s statistics, the number of recruits who arrived in Libya rose to 18,000 Syrian mercenaries, including 350 children under the age of 18. The number also includes 9,850 fighters who have now returned to Syria after completing the duration of their contracts and receiving their financial dues. 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.
On September 26, SOHR confirmed that a new batch of more than 1,400 Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries returned from Libya to Syria, after completing the duration of their contracts.
SOHR sources reported earlier this month that a new batch of some 800 fighters have returned from Libya to Syria, after completing the duration of their contracts. Accordingly, the number of mercenaries who returned to Syria, after being sent earlier by the Turkish government to fight in Libya, exceeded 2,200 in just one week.