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Morale was so low among the ranks loyal to Libyas recognised government, a clutch of fighters secretly planned on deserting the battlefield if they were forced to take on the Russians.
The highly-trained mercenaries hired to support renegade general Khalifa Haftar in his bid to take Tripoli had emerged from the snarl of Libyas latest war as the most feared force.
For the malaise of Tripoli fighters, better acquainted with shooting Kalashnikovs in flip flops, the lethal accuracy of the Russians was terrifying. Their sniping capability had become legendary among the rank-and-file.
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So when the orders came to march south on the enemy positions, a group of fighters huddled together to discuss how they might escape.
The target was Tarhuna, a crumbling one-street town 60km south of the capital Tripoli. With two tiny airstrips, the little-known backwater had morphed into a vital supply line for Haftar since he launched his offensive last April to take the capital from the Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).
If the town fell, the renegade general would lose his last foothold in west Libya and the GNA would likely win the war.
The problem was Moscows mercenaries in the way.
We were planning on running away. We were very afraid of the Russians because of their target accuracy. They are incredibly professional in using artillery, one government fighter admitted, with embarrassment.
Libya’s faultlines (The Independent)
Our main goal was staying alive. It is hard to articulate the fear.
But before the GNA fighters had even left Tripoli, footage was circulating online showing what appeared to be Russian combatants in trucks and cargo planes retreating from the frontlines.
When the fighters finally arrived in Tarhuna the mercenaries had melted away.
That was the beginning of the collapse of Haftars house of cards, said one GNA military official in Tripoli about Haftars loss of the town on 5 June.
It was the main factor that led to Haftars forces withdrawal from the other places, he added.
Haftars Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), now beating a hasty retreat hundreds of kilometres down the coast from Tripoli, deny any foreign fighters exist among its ranks. In interviews with The Independent, its commanders have repeatedly dismissed these allegations as propaganda and lies spread by the GNA and terrorists.
But UN investigators believe at least 1,200 Russians were hired by shadowy Russian private military companies like Wagner to help Haftar win his war against the GNA.
What caused hundreds of them to withdraw at such a crucial moment is the talk of the town back in Tripoli. Rumours abound of a last-minute deal struck between Ankara and Moscow to allow the mercenaries to exit the frontline unscathed, preventing a potentially deadly confrontation between the two world powers.
Given the impact on the morale of Haftars soldiers, the withdrawal made us feel for sure there was a deal, said one Syrian mercenary with the GNA.
All the resistance we faced on all fronts vanished in one night.
Read more
The concluding episode of Haftars disastrous attempt to take Tripoli is an illuminating snapshot of how mercenaries have steered victories and defeats in the latest chapter of Libyas messy civil war.
With wealthy foreign patrons and thousands of soldiers-for-hire deployed on both sides, what was once skirmishes between squabbling fiefdoms of militias has morphed into the worlds newest proxy war.
It has altered the landscape of the country forever and set world super powers including Turkey, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates, against each other.
As one senior diplomat, involved in trying to enforce the UNs arms embargo, put it: Libya is the new Syria but this time on Europes doorstep.
A month-long investigation by The Independentinto this murky mercenary underworld shows a labyrinth of recruitment stretching from Moscow to Damascus from Idlib to Istanbul.
Interviews with western diplomats briefed on an ongoing UN probe into arms embargo violations, US military officials, Syrian and Libyan combatants, as well as over a dozen interviews with people across both countries, show the utilisation of the poorest Syrians at the heart of it.
Hired to fight on both sides in Libya, Syrians are once again battling each other but this time over someone elses war-wrecked capital thousands of kilometres from home.
April is the cruellest month
Last Spring, things in Libya were looking up.
The UN had scheduled a peace conference in the countrys stunning desert city of Ghadames.
The latest bouts of fighting had shuddered to a halt. In January of that year, police officers from the countrys rival governments had even met in Benghazi to discuss cooperation.
But in April, just days before the peace talks were due to start, the veneer of progress came crashing down. Backed by Emirati air power and later Russian boots on the ground, Haftar launched his ill-fated offensive to oust the Turkish-supported government from Tripoli.
Read more
Haftar, nominally linked to a rival administration in the east, has long rejected the GNA as being puppeted by Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, which he and his foreign backers, including Egypt and the UAE, deem to be terrorists.
The GNA, which is recognised by the UN but guarded by brigades of often unsavoury militias, has the support of countries including Turkey and Italy. It regards Haftar as a war criminal who would be king.
Increasingly alarmed, the UN has repeatedly and futilely warned that the flood of fighters and weaponry into Libya violates a UN arms embargo. The UNs acting Libya envoy last month pleaded with the Security Council to stop a massive influx of weaponry, equipment and mercenaries.
It is hard to keep up with the tapestry of foreign operatives fighting for scraps of the country that has limped through multiple conflicts over the nine years since Muammar Gaddafi was killed next to a storm drain.
Territory is not measured in metres-squared but in footholds of influence across the region that can be played off each other. For the mercenary companies like Russias infamous Wagner group Libya is a seemingly bottomless purse.
Haftar started the war on Tripoli in April 2019 with the upper hand, making quick gains with powerful Wing Loong II drones, fighter jets and Pantsir defence systems that western diplomats believe were provided by the UAE and later Russia. Both countries repeatedly deny any allegations of involvement in the war.
On the ground the generals forces were swelled by an injection of mercenaries, which a UN-commissioned probe says included some 1,200 Russian mercenaries and up to 2,000 Syrian fighters recruited from regime areas of Syria. (The Independents own investigation put the number of Syrians at closer to 800).
International diplomats briefed on the UN investigation told The Independent an additional contingent of over 2,000 Sudanese fighters, many of whom arrived during a surge of recruitment in November, also gave Haftar an edge.
But the tide turned with Turkeys formal entry into the foray that was approved by the Turkish parliament in January despite it being a violation of the arms embargo.
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Libyas messy civil war in pictures
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A picture taken on April 11, 2019, shows fighters loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar imprisoned by forces from the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli’s suburb of Ain Zara
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A fighter loyal to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) waves from a crater reportedly caused by an air strike west of the city of Aziziah, some 60 kilometres southwest of the capital Tripoli, on April 14, 2019
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Fighters loyal to the GNA get into position during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar south of the capital Tripoli’s suburb of Ain Zara, on April 25, 2019
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Libyans, some wearing yellow vests, wave national flags and chant slogans during a demonstration against Khalifa Haftar in Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square on April 26, 2019
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African migrants who fled battle zones in Libya gather at a detention center in Zawiya, west of the capital Tripoli, on April 27, 2019
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Fighters loyal to the GNA load a cannon during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, in Espiaa on April 29, 2019
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A fighter loyal to the GNA carries a bullet belt as he and fellow fighters hold a position during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, in Espiaa, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 29, 2019
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A fighter loyal to the GNA stands on a rooftop as smoke rises in the distance during clashes with forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, in Espiaa, about 25 miles south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 29, 2019
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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (L) and Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya and Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA) of Libya, Fayez al-Sarraj stand to attention during a welcoming ceremony upon Farraj’s arrival for their meeting on May 7, 2019 in Rome
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Fighters loyal to the GNA gesture near the frontline during clashes against forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, on May 21, 2019 in the Salah al-Din area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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Fighters loyal to the GNA fire a heavy machine gun on May 21, 2019 in the Salah al-Din area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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A fighter loyal to the GNA fires a heavy machine gun as a press photographer take pictures of the scene during clashes against forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, on May 25, 2019, in the Airport Road Area, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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A fighter loyal to the GNA fires a heavy machine gun on June 1, 2019, in al-Sawani area, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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Fighters loyal to the GNA take a rest near their weapons in the al-Sawani area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli during clashes with forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, on June 19, 2019
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Migrants stand and walk outside at a detention centre used by the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital Tripoli’s suburb of Tajoura on July 3, 2019, following an air strike on a nearby building that left dozens killed the previous night
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Fighters loyal to the GNA open tank fire from their position in the al-Sawani area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on June 13, 2019
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Fighters loyal to the GNA open fire from their position in the al-Sawani area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on June 13, 2019
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A picture taken in Tripoli on June 29, 2019, shows fighters loyal to the GNA displaying Chinese-made shells bearing the markings of the United Arab Emirates (unseen on this side of the box), which were reportedly seized from forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar in Gharyan, 60 miles south of Tripoli. The United States said it was looking into a report that American anti-tank missiles were found by forces loyal to Libya’s unity government at a captured rebel base
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A fighter loyal to the GNA fires his gun during clashes in the capital Tripoli’s suburb of Ain Zara, on September 7, 2019
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Libyans check the site of an air strike in which three children were killed and others wounded on the southern outskirts of the capital Tripoli on October 14, 2019
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Khalifa Haftar leaves after talks with Greek Foreign Minister in Athens, on January 17, 2020, days ahead of a peace conference in Berlin. The talks came as world powers stepped up efforts for a lasting ceasefire
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A fighter with Libya’s GNA fires rockets from a position near the town of Garabulli toward the city of Tarhuna, southwest of the capital Tripoli, held by the forces of Khalifa Haftar, on April 19, 2020
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A resident walks amidst the rubble of a building that was damaged when forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar shelled the residential neighbourhood of Znatah in Tripoli, held by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), on May 1, 2020
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Smoke fumes rise above buildings in the Libyan capital Tripoli, during reported shelling by Khalifa Haftar’s forces, on May 9, 2020
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A GNA fighter stands next to a destroyed car following bombardment earlier in the day in the residential Bab Bin Ghashir neighbourhood of Libya’s capital Tripoli, on May 9, 2020
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Group Captain Muhammad Qanunu, military spokesperson of the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces, stands by a partially disassembled MiG 23 aircraft, after seizing Al-Watiya airbase, southwest of the capital Tripoli, on May 18, 2020
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Forces loyal to Libya’s GNA parade a Russian-made Pantsir air defense system truck in the capital Tripoli on May 20, 2020, after its capture at al-Watiya airbase from forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar
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Fighters loyal to the GNA are pictured near the frontline during clashes against forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, on June 1, 2019, in al-Sawani area, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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People pose for a group picture as they celebrate in the town of Tarhuna on June 5, 2020, after the area was taken over by pro-GNA forces from rival forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar
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Fighters loyal to the GNA stand outside a technical (pickup truck mounted with turret) at Tripoli International Airport, on the southern outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli on June 4, 2020, after the complex was taken over by pro-GNA forces following clashes with rival forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar
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Fighters loyal to the GNA stand atop a tank in the town of Tarhuna, about 65 kilometres southeast of the capital Tripoli on June 5, 2020, after the area was taken over by pro-GNA forces. The GNA said that it was back in full control of Tarhouna, the last stronghold of the forces of Khalifa Haftar
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A fighter loyal to the GNA poses for a picture in the town of Tarhuna on June 5, 2020, after the area was taken over by pro-GNA forces from rival forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar. The UN-recognised government had announced the day before that they were also in full control of the capital Tripoli and its surroundings
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A member of security forces affiliated with the GNA’s Interior Ministry points at the reported site of a mass grave in the town of Tarhuna on June 11, 2020. The United Nations mission to Libya on June 11 voiced “horror” over the reported discovery of at least eight mass graves in an area evacuated by Khalifa Haftar’s forces. “UNSMIL notes with horror reports on the discovery of at least eight mass graves in past days, the majority of them in Tarhuna,” the UN mission said in a statement on Twitter
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A picture taken on April 11, 2019, shows fighters loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar imprisoned by forces from the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli’s suburb of Ain Zara
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A fighter loyal to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) waves from a crater reportedly caused by an air strike west of the city of Aziziah, some 60 kilometres southwest of the capital Tripoli, on April 14, 2019
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Fighters loyal to the GNA get into position during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar south of the capital Tripoli’s suburb of Ain Zara, on April 25, 2019
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Libyans, some wearing yellow vests, wave national flags and chant slogans during a demonstration against Khalifa Haftar in Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square on April 26, 2019
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African migrants who fled battle zones in Libya gather at a detention center in Zawiya, west of the capital Tripoli, on April 27, 2019
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Fighters loyal to the GNA load a cannon during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, in Espiaa on April 29, 2019
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A fighter loyal to the GNA carries a bullet belt as he and fellow fighters hold a position during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, in Espiaa, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 29, 2019
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A fighter loyal to the GNA stands on a rooftop as smoke rises in the distance during clashes with forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, in Espiaa, about 25 miles south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 29, 2019
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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (L) and Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya and Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA) of Libya, Fayez al-Sarraj stand to attention during a welcoming ceremony upon Farraj’s arrival for their meeting on May 7, 2019 in Rome
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Fighters loyal to the GNA gesture near the frontline during clashes against forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, on May 21, 2019 in the Salah al-Din area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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Fighters loyal to the GNA fire a heavy machine gun on May 21, 2019 in the Salah al-Din area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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A fighter loyal to the GNA fires a heavy machine gun as a press photographer take pictures of the scene during clashes against forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, on May 25, 2019, in the Airport Road Area, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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A fighter loyal to the GNA fires a heavy machine gun on June 1, 2019, in al-Sawani area, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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Fighters loyal to the GNA take a rest near their weapons in the al-Sawani area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli during clashes with forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, on June 19, 2019
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Migrants stand and walk outside at a detention centre used by the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in the capital Tripoli’s suburb of Tajoura on July 3, 2019, following an air strike on a nearby building that left dozens killed the previous night
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Fighters loyal to the GNA open tank fire from their position in the al-Sawani area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on June 13, 2019
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Fighters loyal to the GNA open fire from their position in the al-Sawani area south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on June 13, 2019
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A picture taken in Tripoli on June 29, 2019, shows fighters loyal to the GNA displaying Chinese-made shells bearing the markings of the United Arab Emirates (unseen on this side of the box), which were reportedly seized from forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar in Gharyan, 60 miles south of Tripoli. The United States said it was looking into a report that American anti-tank missiles were found by forces loyal to Libya’s unity government at a captured rebel base
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A fighter loyal to the GNA fires his gun during clashes in the capital Tripoli’s suburb of Ain Zara, on September 7, 2019
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Libyans check the site of an air strike in which three children were killed and others wounded on the southern outskirts of the capital Tripoli on October 14, 2019
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Khalifa Haftar leaves after talks with Greek Foreign Minister in Athens, on January 17, 2020, days ahead of a peace conference in Berlin. The talks came as world powers stepped up efforts for a lasting ceasefire
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A fighter with Libya’s GNA fires rockets from a position near the town of Garabulli toward the city of Tarhuna, southwest of the capital Tripoli, held by the forces of Khalifa Haftar, on April 19, 2020
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A resident walks amidst the rubble of a building that was damaged when forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar shelled the residential neighbourhood of Znatah in Tripoli, held by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), on May 1, 2020
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Smoke fumes rise above buildings in the Libyan capital Tripoli, during reported shelling by Khalifa Haftar’s forces, on May 9, 2020
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A GNA fighter stands next to a destroyed car following bombardment earlier in the day in the residential Bab Bin Ghashir neighbourhood of Libya’s capital Tripoli, on May 9, 2020
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Group Captain Muhammad Qanunu, military spokesperson of the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces, stands by a partially disassembled MiG 23 aircraft, after seizing Al-Watiya airbase, southwest of the capital Tripoli, on May 18, 2020
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Forces loyal to Libya’s GNA parade a Russian-made Pantsir air defense system truck in the capital Tripoli on May 20, 2020, after its capture at al-Watiya airbase from forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar
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Fighters loyal to the GNA are pictured near the frontline during clashes against forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, on June 1, 2019, in al-Sawani area, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli
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People pose for a group picture as they celebrate in the town of Tarhuna on June 5, 2020, after the area was taken over by pro-GNA forces from rival forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar
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Fighters loyal to the GNA stand outside a technical (pickup truck mounted with turret) at Tripoli International Airport, on the southern outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli on June 4, 2020, after the complex was taken over by pro-GNA forces following clashes with rival forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar
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Fighters loyal to the GNA stand atop a tank in the town of Tarhuna, about 65 kilometres southeast of the capital Tripoli on June 5, 2020, after the area was taken over by pro-GNA forces. The GNA said that it was back in full control of Tarhouna, the last stronghold of the forces of Khalifa Haftar
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A fighter loyal to the GNA poses for a picture in the town of Tarhuna on June 5, 2020, after the area was taken over by pro-GNA forces from rival forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar. The UN-recognised government had announced the day before that they were also in full control of the capital Tripoli and its surroundings
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A member of security forces affiliated with the GNA’s Interior Ministry points at the reported site of a mass grave in the town of Tarhuna on June 11, 2020. The United Nations mission to Libya on June 11 voiced “horror” over the reported discovery of at least eight mass graves in an area evacuated by Khalifa Haftar’s forces. “UNSMIL notes with horror reports on the discovery of at least eight mass graves in past days, the majority of them in Tarhuna,” the UN mission said in a statement on Twitter
One of the things Turkey did by officially intervening in Libya is upgrade the weaponry. Its like they fast-forwarded Libya a new generation, Oded Berkowitz, deputy chief intelligence officer at Max Security, told The Independent.
Ankara not only deployed a few hundred of its own forces, but sent Bayraktar TB2 drones, Korkut air defence systems and according to western military observers at least three Gabya-class frigates, creating a vital air defence bubble protecting Tripoli and neighbouring Misrata.
At the same time, UN investigators estimate that Ankara recruited as many as 3,000 of its Turkish-backed Syrian combatants for Libyas frontline.
Syrian fighters in Libya, however, told The Independent that the true number was closer to 6,000, due to a surge in recruitment over the last two months.
Even the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in March did not slow the transfer of troops.
Sources on Syrias border with Turkey told The Independent hundreds of Syrian fighters had crossed over, ready to be deployed to Tripoli this week. Although with the collapse of Haftars strongholds, that may not be necessary now.
On Haftars side, The Independentwas able to confirm a surge in recruitment of pro-regime Syrian mercenaries up until at least mid-May.
Down in the southern desert of Murzuq, along the main smuggling routes from Libyas porous border desert with Sudan, Libyan residents told The Independent Sudanese fighters in pick-up trucks were tearing their way through the desert to the front lines.
There is regular movement since the borders are basically open. We have one car, or two, each week crossing the borders, said one man called Mohamed.
A long way from home
Sitting hunched over his phone amid the pock-marked moonscapes of the Tripoli frontline, Abu Ahmed admitted Turkeys Syrian mercenaries are miserable.
Some are so desperate to go home, they shot themselves in the legs so they can get airlifted out, the battle ravaged ex-rebel said.
Some are so desperate to go home, they shot themselves in the legs so they can get airlifted out
Syrian mercenary in Libya
Like most of the Syrians he knows, the 27-year-old says he only agreed to fight in Libya because he assumed it was easy to catch a migrant boat to Europe. It turns out its not, he added bitterly. All of the Syrians here for a long time advise: dont trust anyone and just try to get home.
After years fighting with rebel factions against Syrian regime forces, Abu Ahmed joined the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army last year as it spearheaded Ankaras incursion into Kurdish-held northern Syria.
He was first deployed to Tripoli on the GNA side in February 2020. Over the last month of messaging The Independent his mood has gone from bad to worse.
He described how the Syrians unruly behaviour including looting, and stealing weapons has angered several Libyan brigades, worried about the optics of foreigners fighting their battles. He recalled how one Syrian friend captured a Syrian on the rival side, painting a poignant vignette of the pointlessness of it all.
Here in Libya they treat us like if we were a sack of money. The Libyans hate us and dont trust us at all. We just want to go home, he continued.
Abu Ahmeds story echoes thousands of other Syrians caught up in the regions proxy wars. He was just 17 and working in his parents shop when the Syria civil war broke out in 2011. He never finished secondary school and so nine years later, to survive, he fights for whoever will pay the most.
That ended up being the GNA, which, with Turkish support, was promising $2,000 a month for four months: a considerable pay rise from his monthly salary of 500 Turkish lira ($70) fighting Turkeys offensives in northern Syria.
In fact Ankara entrusted top commanders of the Turkish-backed Syrian brigades with their recruitment drive. According to multiple fighters in Libya and civilians in northwest Syria the likes of Fehim Isa, who leads Sultan Murad brigade and Abu Amsha, from Suleiman Shah, have done lucrative stints in Libya with their men.
A GNA fighter fires a heavy machine gun at rival forces south of the captial (AFP/Getty)
The journey from northeast Syria to Tripoli takes roughly one week. Abu Ahmed described crossing the Hawar Kilis border point, boarding military aircraft from the southern Turkish town of Gaziantep to Istanbul and then flying commercial onwards to west Libya.
Another GNA fighter, who was among the first dispatched in January and is back in Syria, told The Independent the Syrians he was fighting alongside were quickly disillusioned. Even the money promised was not that good.
Omar (not his real name) explains $200 of their monthly salary is siphoned off to their brigade. The situation in Libya is like in Syria, we fight without any planning, Omar added, describing mutinies among the Syrian factions, absent battle strategies and frosty welcomes from disgruntled Libyan militiamen.
Some Syrians were so depressed they threatened that if they werent sent home theyd kill anyone standing in their face.
He said the Syrians cannot escape home by themselves as it requires transiting through Turkey and so the approval of their commanders.
This disgruntlement began to filter back through the ranks to Syria. A well-placed international diplomat told The Independentthe GNA was originally promised up to 9000 fighters but had recruiting challenges.
Map of recruitment in Syria (The Independent)
Back in Syria, one man from Afrin, a town on the Syria-Turkey border, said that recruiters, finding it increasingly hard to sign up fighters, targeted civilians. He was approached to help recruit from IDP camps.
I was offered 200$ for each civilian I could recruit to Libya. It is difficult getting fighters who want to go to Libya, he told The Independent.
Fighting to feed yourself
Despite these difficulties, by May, Haftar would realise he was losing the war.
In the weeks before, it was already apparent that Turkeys fraught recruitment efforts were translating into military successes. With GNA forces recapturing territory, Haftars international backers also looked to Syria to plug a manpower shortfall.
Libyas eastern administration linked to Haftar even opened an embassy in Damascus in March, announcing they would fight Turkey-backed militant groups together with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
And so, as Abu Ahmed was busy signing up in Idlib near Turkeys border in February, hundreds of kilometres south in the regime-held areas of Douma, Daraa and Suweida, Kremlin-linked private military companies sent recruiters to villages to convince young men to join Haftars side.
UN experts, investigating arms embargo violations, believe that between 1 January and 10 March there were 33 Cham Wings flights from Damascus to Benghazi, likely transporting Syrian mercenaries. (The Syrian airline was sanctioned by the USin 2016 for providing financial support to the Assad regime and transporting Syrian troops.)
The same UN probe said in January this year Russian recruiters were first sent to Douma offering $800 a month. With little pick up, the salaries promised were increased to over $1000and recruiters moved to a small pocket in Suweida, a centre of Syrias Druze religious minority.
In March, recruiters shifted their focus to Daraa, a region close to Syrias border with Jordan. There, according to three people whose friends and family were approached to sign up, they started tapping into brigades of reconciled ex-rebels that made up a special branch of the Fifth Assault Corps one of the premier Russian-backed formations in Syria.
These young men were easier to convince. Ex-rebels who pledge allegiance to Assad typically earn less than $30 a month as regime soldiers.
They are often harassed by regime security forces who are distrustful of them and so impose harsh restrictions on the jobs they can secure and their movement.
Omran Musalmah, a Syrian activist from Daraa, who is in close contact with villages targeted by the recruitment drive, said Wagner-organised recruiters not only promised to pay the reconciled fighters $1,200 a month, but to stop that harassment.
They were told the mission would be securing oil fields and Russian facilities. If they agreed, the security forces would stop the abuse against them, Musalmah said.
But when they reached the training camps in Homs they learned they were going to fight with Haftar against the government in Tripoli. Most went home.
By April, the story repeated itself in Quneitra, an area close to the border with Israel. There Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Syria expert at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who spoke to community members, said the men signed up because their families were going hungry.
This is only happening because of immense need, Tsurkov told The Independent.
They have no alternatives.
As Haftars offensive began to stall his recruiters ramped up their efforts.
By June, he lost the strategic Wattiya airbase, at least nine multimillion-dollar defence systems and Tarhuna, his chief re-supply line.
In the weeks prior, Russian recruiters trawled Syrias southern Hama countryside, areas of neighbouring Homs, as well as the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, according to local sources.
GNA forces parade a captured Russian-made air defence system in Tripoli (AFP/Getty)
The process was fraught. In southern Hama, residents of villages told The Independent it took a month to convince anyone to sign up.
A hundred eventually made it to Khmeimim, [Russias main airbase in Syria] on 8 May ready to be deployed to Libya days later, said one man, whose family still lives in the area. He asked to remain anonymous.
The Independent was told by multiple sources they likely boarded a 11 May Cham Wings flight from Khmeimim airbase in Latakia to east Libya.
Maritime observer Yoruk Isik, who tracks Cham Wings flights between the two countries using open source software, watched that particular flight with interest.
He toldThe Independent it was one of the first and only times Cham Wings had left a transponder along that route. The planes usually vanish from tracking apps above Benghazi.
But this time the plane quietly descended on Khadim an east Libyan base UN investigators claim was set up by the UAE . Its an odd destination for a commercial airline.
Little is known about exactly where the fighters end up. Diplomats briefed on the UN investigation said as soon as they board planes, after a final phone call back home, their mobiles are confiscated.
On arrival, they are issued burner phones with no access to the internet so they can communicate with each other but not with the outside world.
Moscows mercenary men
On Haftars bases across Libya, disagreements are notoriously frequent.
The problem is, one international military observer said, the general has limited foreign advisers that he rarely listens to.
It didnt help that he and his staff do not understand modern warfare, the official added. Tensions between his command and Wagner have reportedly soared.
Russian mercenaries first emerged in east Libya in 2018 repairing military vehicles. Most, including UN investigators, point the finger at Wagner nicknamed Russias Blackwater.
But Neil Hauer, an independent expert on the group, said Wagner is actually a catchall phrase for a number of nebulous arms-length private military companies that have emerged over the last few years with ties to Russias Ministry of Defence.
Wagner was created in 2014 during Russias war in Ukraine and first deployed in Syria two years later. But it had its wings clipped in February 2018 after a messy shoot-out with American forces in Syria upset the Kremlin, according to Hauer and international diplomats.
And so, UN investigators said alongside Wagner multiple smaller private military companies were deployed to Libya.
Whoever is responsible for the recruitment of Russian combatants, they first appeared on the west Libya frontlines in September, according to international diplomats.
Russian identity cards and personal items, apparently left behind during a retreat, were discovered in the battlefields around Tripoli.
At some point the Russia military deployed its own forces to Libya, possibly in advisory roles.
Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar in Athens in January (AFP/Getty)
A BBC investigation found that the first Russian commissioned officer died in Libya inFebruary. The 27-year-old soldier was later buried in his Russian hometown in a heavily policed funeral.
The Russian defence ministry did not reply to a request from The Independent for comment.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has vehemently denied the accusations that Russia is funnelling fighters and equipment to Libya. When asked in January about Wagner, he replied that if there are Russians in Libya, they do not represent the Russian state.
But as one western diplomat put it, it is safer to deploy a group like Wagner than the military, it is a lot of strategy for not many roubles.
That was echoed by US Africa Command, which confirmed to The Independent Russia has flown a mix of 14 MiG-29 fighters and Su-24 fighter-bombers to Jufrah, Haftars main airbase in central Libya.
A spokesperson said Washington believes that Russia was employing Wagner in Libya as part of a Kremlin strategy to expand its influence across the Mediterranean and the African continent.
Russia employs state-sponsored [mercenaries] in at least 16 African countries to obfuscate Moscows direct role and to afford plausible deniability, the spokesperson added.
Whos paying the bills?
Back in Tripoli, speculation about the Russian mercenary salaries is rife.
They must get a huge amount, one GNA fighter wrote on WhatsApp. Otherwise why would they agree to fight?
A three-month contract in Libya for all the fighters is estimated to cost nearly $175m, according to UN investigators. No one believes Haftar can finance that on his own.
Some allege Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is nicknamed Putins chef for his Kremlin catering contracts, is the shadowy financier of Wagner.
Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, has accused Abu Dhabi of bankrolling the enterprise in a fiery speech where he dismissed Haftar as a desert lord.
UN investigators have long accused the Emirates of providing material support to Haftars forces. As early as 2017 a panel of experts report said the UAE had sent drones, planes, attack helicopters and armoured vehicles to Libya, stationing them at Khadim, an airbase Abu Dhabi built up.
The UAE authorities did not respond to The Independents request for comment on Libya. But the Emirates have repeatedly denied funnelling weapons to Libya and maintain they are supporting a peaceful political solution to the crisis. Last week they once again rejected claims by the GNA they were involved in Haftars military operations.
There were, however, Dubai links to a botched attempt last year by Haftar to hire western mercenaries, including five Brits.
Giuseppe Conte and Fayez al-Sarraj in Rome last year (AFP/Getty)
A recent confidential UN probe found that, in the middle of the battle for Tripoli, Haftar paid a team of 20 foreign mercenaries, upwards of $120,000 to create a marine strike force to prevent Turkish-supplied weapons reaching the GNA.
The western soldiers-of-fortune arrived in Libya last June but fell out with Haftar and fled the country by boat just days after they arrived.
Two diplomats briefed on the probe saidtwo Dubai-based companies were named as allegedly masterminding the deals. Both companies denied their involvement in a statement to The Independent.
The future
Whoever is footing the bills, Haftars stunning defeat has dealt a crushing blow to his foreign backers who are scrabbling to renegotiate their positions.
They are quickly realising it is not that easy. Throwing some contractors into the mix will not see Haftar sweep to victory, said analyst Hauer.
Egypt, which had taken a back seat in Libya, appeared to return to the ring hosting one-sided peace talks in Cairo last weekend. There Haftar agreed to a unilateral ceasefire provided ironically the GNA sends its foreign mercenaries home.
This was roundly rejected by the recognised government who instead declared a new offensive to take Sirte and Jufrah airbase, over 500km southeast of Tripoli.
As bloody battles have raged in Sirte, videos have appeared online this week allegedly showing Egyptian military build up along its border with Libya, which some have read as a warning sign to the GNA to back down.
Throwing some contractors into the mix will not see Haftar sweep to victory
Neil Hauer, expert on Wagner
Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert at the Clingendael Institute, said that under the alleged deal between Ankara and Moscow, Sirte was not supposed to be taken by force. West Libyan forces have marched too far east.
Cairo is under tremendous pressure on the part of the UAE and to some extent Saudi Arabia to take a firmer stand, he added.
Cairo, reportedly unhappy about the Tripoli offensive in the first place, is likely waiting for the outcome of the rumoured Turkey-Russia deal.
That may be determined by movement of forces on the ground. Officials within the GNAs interior ministry told The Independent they would not stop until they had taken Sirte and Jufrah and were even mulling marching on the Haftar-held oil crescent too.
The UN has said that the warring parties had agreed to restart ceasefire talks but ongoing fighting undermines that.
Trapped in the middle are the mercenaries. Fresh Syrian recruits for the GNAs new offensive are due to land early this week, according to multiple sources.
Syria was killing me, Libya was the only way out
Syrian mercenary
Abu Ahmeds fighting contract, however, is due to end in the coming days.
Over the last month he has come full circle and is now debating whether to stay in Libya where there are better chances of finding a job than in Syria, ravaged by a crushing financial crisis. It is also easier and cheaper to get to Europe from Libyan shores.
Syria was killing me, I needed to leave in any way possible but had no chances. Libya was the only way out, he says his voice thick with regret.
My only thought about coming here was that I could make some money and cross the sea to Italy which I still want to do.
Europe is my only hope.
Read the first part of the Soldiers of Misfortune series here: Libyas beleaguered general Haftar swindled out of millions by western mercenaries and businessmen
Home>>Arts>>Investigation: Libya has morphed into the world’s newest proxy conflict and at its heart is a labyrinth of mercenary recruitment stretching across Russia, Syria and Turkey. Bel Trew and Rajaai Bourhan report
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