After using thousands of mercenaries from Sudan, Chad and Russia – Hifter is resorting to bringing in more Syrian militias, according to the French newspaper Le Monde, in addition to strengthening relations with the Assad regime by opening the Libyan embassy in Damascus, which was received by the government of Al-Thani.
Druze mercenaries
In a new development with the file of mercenaries fighting with Hifter, the French newspaper “Le Monde”, on March 4, quoted a close associate of the Russian “Wagner” company, the arrival of 1500 Syrian mercenaries from the Druze sect who are well trained in Benghazi in coordination with a Syrian security leader He is named “Ali Mamlouk” to support Hifter’s militia.
The source confirmed to the French newspaper, that most of the Syrian mercenaries who fight with Hifter hail from the two areas of Ghouta in the outskirts of Damascus and Alsuwayda, noting that their salaries range between 800 and 1500 dollars.
Wagner’s withdrawal
Hifter’s use of more Syrian mercenaries coincides with the statements of Turkish President Rejep Tayyip Erdogan, in which he announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin would take positive steps regarding Russian “Wagner” mercenaries fighting with Hifter in Libya.
The Turkish president stressed that if Putin takes these steps, the task of Ankara and that of the President of the GNA, Fayiz Asarraj, will be easy in the forthcoming period.
On January 11, Nasser Ammar, the commander of the support force in the Libyan army, confirmed the start of the withdrawal of the Russian mercenaries involved in the fighting alongside the Hifter militia.
Rapprochement with Syria
In a public move in the context of rapprochement with the Syrian regime, a delegation from the government of Athani, headed by its Foreign Minister Abdulhadi Alhwaij, held talks with officials of the Bashar alassad regime in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The Syrian News Agency stated that the Syrian regime handed over the Libyan embassy, closed 8 years ago, to the delegation of the government of Athani, after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the reopening of the headquarters of diplomatic and consular missions and coordination of stances between the two sides.
Air flights
The flights of “Wings of Asham” company planes coming from Damascus to the city of Benghazi did not stop during the aggression on Tripoli.
And press sources indicated that the Syrian private “Wings of Asham” company, which is owned by the relative of the head of the Syrian regime, “Rami Makhlouf,” transports Russian and Syrian mercenaries from the “National Defense” militias affiliated with the Assad regime, to fight in Libya along with the Hifter militias.
Closure of oil and mercenary salaries
And groups loyal to Haftar continue for 49 days to close the oil ports, causing a large and continuous decline in production to about 119 thousand barrels per day, and financial losses exceeding two billion and 708 million US dollars, which negatively affected the life of citizens and delayed the salaries of citizens, as the Central Bank in Tripoli put the reason for the delay of the January and February salary payments to the failure to submit a draft financial arrangement proportionate with the suffocating crisis caused by the closure of the fields.
While the Libyan citizen suffers the scourge and consequences of the closure of Haftar oil – Libya’s money goes to the pockets of mercenaries fighting alongside him, the 2019 UN report stated that “brokers pay Sudanese mercenaries up to $ 3,000 for every new fighter who joins Haftar militias and these mercenaries have a monthly salary of 5,100 Libyan dinars, while officers receive 5,200 dinars. ”
Observers believe that the continued Hifter militias to bring more mercenaries is clear evidence of the lack of sufficient support for him in the areas under his control after the huge number of losses among his soldiers, which amounted to 7 thousand people, according to his spokesman Ahmed Almismari.
