Clashes, desertions reported among mercenaries and militias in Libya’s GNA camp

By  Jemai Guesmi – The Arab Weekly  – Some mercenaries are attempting to illegally migrate to Europe across the Mediterranean.

Monday 20/04/2020

TUNIS – Discord is reportedly growing between Syrian and foreign mercenaries dispatched to Libya by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Turkish officers and militia leaders affiliated with the Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, according to well informed sources in Libya.

The development is adding to upheaval among mercenaries, who militia leaders have criticised as undisciplined, after their Turkish handlers and supervisors reneged on promises and reduced their salaries.The frustration has grown so intense among some mercenaries that there has even been talk of mutiny and fears of imminent armed clashes.

Over the past few days, there have been several cases of rebellion on the ground in the vicinity of Tripoli carried out by mercenary elements. In Salah al-Din, the Abu Salim project, Al-Toisha and Ain Zara, armed skirmishes broke out between mercenaries and militia members loyal to the Sarraj government.

According to Libyan security sources, several skirmishes broke out after mercenary groups made a series of indiscriminate withdrawals from ground positions on multiple battle front.

The skirmishes took place primarily on the Hadhaba front between groups of mercenaries and Abu Salim-Central Support militia, led by Abdal-Ghani al-Kakli, aka “Ghniwa,” and on the Salah al-Din front between the mercenaries and the 301st battalion, previously known as the Halbous Battalion, led by Abd al-Salam al-Zoubi.

The Central Support militia is stationed in the Abu Salim area of ​​the capital, the Hadhaba plateau and parts of the airport road; while the 301st battalion, which includes the largest number of mercenaries, is stationed in parts of Hadhba project, Kraimia, Bab Bin Ghashir, Salah Al-Din and Khallet Al-Farjan, in addition to several other locations south-west of Tripoli.

Sources said the skirmishes were punctuated by accusations of cowardice and racist insults directed at the mercenaries, which angered their supervisors.

Widespread disobedience ensued and tensions grew between the mercenaries and the Sarraj government militia leaders, especially those of the 301st battalion belonging to the General Staff Office loyal to the Sarraj government. The mercenaries also refused to obey orders by Turkish officers who seemed to have taken the side of the militia leaders.

The sources said that these skirmishes are likely to evolve into full-fledged armed clashes, as news from the battlefronts confirms frequent clashes between Syrian mercenaries and Libyan militias. Additional reasons included disputes over who should lead the battles and the distribution of spoils in the combat zones.

The Libyan officer in charge of supervising the distribution of Syrian mercenaries on the battle fronts and of coordinating between them and the Turkish officers and the leaders of the rest of the militias is Abd al-Salam al-Zoubi, commander of the 301st Battalion.

In addition to the reported clashes,some mercenaries have attempted to desert from the battlefront and illegally migrate to Europe across the Mediterranean.

Reports also indicate that the the Sarraj government’s interior minister, Fathi Bashagha, formed a special military squad of members of the Misrata militias and tasked them with hunting down any mercenary trying to leave Tripoli.

Bashagha had received harsh warnings from Italian officials who were extremely concerned about a possible outflow of mercenary elements into Italy.

The Syrian mercenaries in Tripoli grew even more disgruntled after Turkey failed to deliver on its promises to them, and as the death toll and the spread of COVID- 19 infections among their ranks continued to rise.

Libyan security sources revealed that Turkey has begun repatriating a number of its officers and soldiers stationed in Libya and replacing them with freshly assigned troop in an attempt to bridge the widening gap between the Syrian mercenaries and their Turkish and Libyan officers before it evolves into an all-out armed rebellion that would spoil Turkish designs in Libya.

The sources indicated that, over the past few days, dozens of Turkish military and security officers were flown back to Turkey. Turkish news agency Anatolia confirmed the news, stating that Turkish authorities “had evacuated 63 citizens from Libya” who arrived at Istanbul airport this past Friday.

The agency did not reveal their names nor specify what their role had been in Libya.

The repatriation operation places Turkey’s military and security presence in Libya in the spotlight once again. There are indications that its so-called “evacuation” plan was actually a “substitution” operation of Turkish officers and soldiers in Libya.  It coincided with Turkish authorities’ creation of an air link between Istanbul and Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport, and Misrata Airport in Misrata to transfer more military equipment and supplies to the Libyan militias.

Over the past few months, Turkey has moved dozens of Turkish officers and hundreds of engineers and technicians to Libya, tasking them with managing armed operations through the use of snipers, jamming air defence systems and drones.

Brigadier General Halil Soysal was put in command of the task force, but he was reported killed on February 18 following injuries caused by bombing attacks by the Libyan National Army (LNA) on a ship carrying Turkish weapons in the port of Tripoli.

The LNA, led by Field-Marshal Khalifa Haftar, announced it had killed, wounded and captured many Turkish troops in battlefronts near Tripoli.

Erdogan acknowledged the death of numerous Turkish officers and soldiers in Libya, but did not state their names or military ranks.

Libyan and Turkish security reports previously revealed the names of several Turkish officers, including those of high ranking military officers.