Underpaid Syrian soldiers fleeing to work for Haftar’s militias

Despite international calls to remove all foreign forces from Libya, as many as 20,000 troops continue to operate in the oil rich nation

The removal of all foreign forces from Libya was a key stipulation in the country’s ceasefire agreement that ended the 14-month long assault on Tripoli. [Photo: Internet]
According to Syrian sources in Libya, underpaid soldiers working for the regime of Bashar Al-Assad are fleeing their country to join forces with militias loyal to field marshal Khalifa Haftar due to Assad’s failure to pay their salaries on time if at all.

The sources speaking with Anadolu Agency (AA) stated that the Syrian regime is struggling to pay their soldiers due to the deteriorating state of Syria’s economy as a result of the decade long war in the country.

The same sources added that many regime soldiers and pro-regime militias in the governorates of Hama, Homs and Aleppo are seeking to join Haftar’s forces in Libya, due to the interruption of their salaries.

The sources added that the soldiers are being recruited in the Russian Khmeimim Air Base in the Latakia governorate overlooking the Mediterranean Sea which had been transformed into a recruitment centre to send mercenaries for hire to Libya and Venezuela.

Syrian mercenaries are but one breed of the many currently operating freely in Libya despite international calls for their departure increasing as Libya’s new government comes into power and plans to alter the destructive path the country had been on for the last ten years.

Other known foreign forces in Libya belong to the Turkish government, the Russian Wagner group and janjaweed mercenaries.

International powers have collectively expressed the importance of removing all foreign forces from Libya to reinstate the country’s sovereignty and state of stability.

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