50 “Syrian mercenaries” leave Libya towards Turkey
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A batch of about 50 “Syrian mercenaries,” affiliated with Turkish-backed armed Syrian opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), left Libya and headed to Turkey, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Friday.
This comes in tandem with the arrival of another batch in Turkey in preparation to be sent to Libya to engage in the war.
The SOHR said in a report that transporting mercenaries has been halted for about 50 days the last of which was early in October.
In September, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) said in a report that after two years and a half of their involvement in the conflict, about “3.000 Syrian mercenaries”, including children, are still present on Libyan soil.
They carried out many violations including looting houses of civilians, imposing royalties on shops, and stealing others.
Turkey, since 2020, has recruited thousands of Syrian mercenaries of the SNA factions to battle along Government of National Accord against Libyan National Army under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
However, Russia recruited thousands of young men from the Syrian government-held areas with the aim to send them to Libya to battle to the side of Haftar forces.
However, after decreasing wages of the Syrian militants to less than $300, their conditions deteriorated and Turkey have banned them from returning to Syria except for severe illness conditions, according to Syrian militants in Libya.
Turkey always refuses to return the mercenaries to their country though they keep demanding they are returned home in light of their low salaries and bad treatment by commanders.