Libyan GNA: Haftar forces recruited Syria mercenaries

A leader in the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) said the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces led by renegade General Khalifa Haftar have recruited mercenaries from Syria to fight in Libya.

Salim Qashout, a member of Chamber of Libyan Army Operations-Western Region, said the mercenaries have recently been transported onboard 12 flights to eastern Libya. The fighters are said to be loyal to Syrian regime President Bashar Al-Assad.

The move comes as nine months after Haftar’s forces launched their attack to capture Tripoli, fighter number and equipment are running low, the Libyan official said.

In November Ahmed Al-Mesmari, a spokesman for Haftar’s militia, asked: “After 7,000 of our soldiers have been killed, how can we be asked to stop the fighting?”

On Sunday, Sudanese families organised a protest in front of the Emirati embassy in Khartoum to protest against an Emirati company which sent Sudanese youth to fight in Libya and Yemen, instead of employing them in the security service sector in the UAE, as per the contracts they had signed.

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