As soon as news of the successive defeats of the Haftar militias was broadcast through the loss of more than 6 cities on the west coast of the country after the pre-emptive strikes of the army forces as part of Operation Storm of Peace, his regional supporters, led by Russia, began to work to support him in an attempt to save him.
Support this time differed from its predecessor, and Russia began to send more Syrian mercenaries, fearing a thunderous fall for Haftar and his militia at any time after it showed a clear fragility in the face of the army forces in recent battles.
Russia supports Haftar with the Syrians
The German newspaper “Bild” said, that there are unprecedented recruitment campaigns by Wagner for Syrian fighters after training in order to send them to the war in Libya, accompanied by Haftar.
The newspaper pointed out that Wagner’s contracts with them would initially be for three months, and the Syrian fighters received a promise of a salary of $ 1,000 a month. If they are injured or killed in Libya, they or their families will receive between 25,000 and 50,000 dollars.
Syrian newspapers confirm
Syrian newspaper sources revealed that Russia transferred hundreds of elements of what is known as “settlements and reconciliation” with the internationally isolated regime of Bashar al-Assad in the Quneitra governorate to fight with Haftar against the Libyan army forces.
The Syrian newspaper Zaman Al-Wasl said, according to its own sources, that there were dozens of buses that entered last Sunday to Quneitra and transported 350 members to Damascus International Airport to be transported to Libya, noting that the agreement took place between Russian officers and reconciliation leaders who dominated the decision in the areas that entered the settlement, and among them A leader named “Abu Jaafar Momtana” chaired the meeting with the Russians.
The sources confirmed to the newspaper that the transportation operations are still ongoing, and it was agreed to transfer about 500 other elements of reconciliation in groups to Libya for a period of only 3 months, provided that the Russian forces provide for their transportation, food and housing, and pay an amount of $ 3,000 USD for each of them, and to return them to the province after the lapse of The period agreed upon between them.
Victories for the GNA
This Russian dismay of Haftar’s fall came after the recent victories of the GNA forces. The Libyan army spokesman, Colonel Pilot Mohamed Qanunu, described the progress of the army and the forces supporting it, and the liberation of 6 cities and areas on the coastal strip in the Libyan west, as a precise and quietly prepared operation.
Qanunu added, in a statement to Arraed, that the orders were issued to the forces to attack until the cities of Sorman, Sabrata, Riqdalin, Al-Assa, Al-Ajilat, and Zultun were seized, amid the cohesion and solidarity of their people.
Interior Ministry warns
Haftar’s support with Syrian mercenaries has not started yet. The Ministry of the Interior warned last March that a number of fighters and military experts had arrived in the city of Benghazi via recent flights from Syria to support the forces of Khalifa Haftar.
In a statement published by the Ministry of Interior, it confirmed that the experts had links to the Russian Wagner Company, which included mercenaries, Hezbollah Lebanese members, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The statement stated that Al-Sham Wings Company, a private company owned by relatives of the President of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, has opened an office in Benghazi to establish suspicious commercial activities under the cover of this air route.
And the Russian presence in the aggression against Tripoli emerged last November when international agencies and newspapers reported that Russian mercenaries were supporting Haftar militias in the fighting south of Tripoli, which called on the US State Department to warn of the danger of the Russian to the interests of Western countries in the region.
