Turks deploy IS fighters to Libya
SYRIAN militants affiliated with groups such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) are being sent by Turkey to fight on behalf of the UN-supported government in Libya, according to two Libyan militia leaders and a Syrian war monitor.
Both sides in Libya’s civil war receive equipment and backing from foreign countries.
But Turkey, which has long trained and funded opposition fighters in Syria and relaxed its borders so foreign fighters joined IS, has in recent months been airlifting hundreds of them over to a new theatre of war in Libya.
The UN-supported government controls only a shrinking area of western Libya, including the capital, Tripoli. It’s facing a months-long offensive by forces loyal to General Khalifa Hafter who is allied with a rival government based in Libya’s east. The UN recognises the government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, as
Libya’s legitimate government because it was born out of UN-mediated talks in 2015.
Sarraj is backed by Turkey, and to a lesser degree, Qatar and Italy. Hafter receives backing from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia. Libya has the ninth largest known oil reserves in the world, and many of these countries are apparently jockeying for influence in order to control Libya’s resources.
Libyan militia leaders in Tripoli told The Associated Press that Turkey has brought more than 4 000 foreign fighters into Tripoli, and that “dozens” of them are extremist-affiliated. The two commanders spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter with the media.
The commanders also highlighted differing opinions within the Libyan militias about accepting Syrian extremists into their ranks. One said the fighters’ backgrounds aren’t important, as long as they’ve come to help defend the capital. The other said some commanders fear the fighters will “tarnish” the image of the Tripolibased government.
Turkey-backed militias in northern Syria have been known to include fighters that previously fought with al-Qaeda, IS and other militant groups, and have committed atrocities against Syrian Kurdish groups and civilians.
The UN has repeatedly condemned the flow of weapons and foreign fighters into Libya. But the organisation has not directly responded to reports and accusations by Hafter’s side that Sarraj’s government and Turkey are apparently using IS- and al-Qaeda-linked extremists as mercenaries.
Turkey has not confirmed nor denied reports of Syrian fighters being sent to Libya to support Sarraj, and the Turkish military did not respond to requests for comment.
However, in a televised interview last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “As a combat force, we will have a different team there. They won’t be from within our soldiers. Those different teams and the combat forces will work together. But our high-ranking soldiers will co-ordinate.” He did not elaborate.
Rumours of Turkey-backed Syrian fighters in Libya have swirled for weeks. Foreign leaders and commentators have pointed to videos circulated online that appear to show Syrians in Tripoli. In one video, a man with a Syrian accent films the dormitories where he and other fighters are living, saying “Thank God, we arrived safely in Libya”. Another clip shows a plane full of fighters, some wearing fatigues and speaking with Syrian accents.
Turkey’s Libyan allies and Syrian opposition leaders have denied any organised efforts to send combatants to Libya.