On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) brought to light the fact that Turkey continues to send Syrian mercenaries to Libya, despite the state of discontent and the appalling living conditions suffered by Syrian fighters as a result of Turkey failing to pay their salaries.
A video shared by a battalion of the Libyan National Army (LNA) shows a Syrian mercenary talking about being recruited by Turkey to fight in the North African country.
In the video, the Syrian mercenary expressed his regret for coming to Libya, calling on his fellow fighters to never deploy there. He added: “the situation here is not good at all, especially after the Turks failed to pay us our financial dues estimated at $2000 per month, in addition to our inability to leave our houses due to the intensive deployment of forces affiliated to General Commander Khalifa Haftar.” The Syrian fighter pointed out that they all wish to return back to their country, confirming that a big number of Syrian fighters are preparing to return through the Al-Shami (The Levant) Legion.
A few days ago, SOHR documented a spike in the death toll of Turkish-backed Syrian combatants facing the LNA on several fronts in Libya. Eight fighters were killed and their bodies shipped to Syria and buried in areas controlled by the “Euphrates Shield” faction, located in the Aleppo countryside.
Accordingly, the number of Syrian mercenaries joining military operations in Libya and being killed there rose to 151. These fatalities are from the factions “al-Mu’tasim Division”, “Sultan Murad Division”, “Suqur Al-Shamal Brigade”, “Al-Hamzat” and “Suleiman Shah”.
According to reliable SOHR sources, the Syrians were killed in clashes on the Salah Al-Din frontlines in the south of Tripoli, Al-Ramlah near Tripoli Airport, Al-Hadabah Project area, Misrata and other areas in Libya.
A few days ago, SOHR sources reported that Turkey lowered the salaries of Syrian fighters who volunteered to engage in the Libyan conflict to support forces affiliated to the Government of National Accord (GNA), as their number exceeded 6,000, which is much higher than what Turkey requested.
Over the recent period, SOHR sources reported that the number of recruits arriving in Tripoli rose to nearly 4,750, while around 1,900 others arrived in Turkey to undergo military training.