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2021-06-26 Africa North
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Hundreds of Syrians Deployed to Libya Despite the Ceasefire Agreement
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Via Bulgarian journalist Ruslan Trad
 [STJ-SY] Introduction
Parties in the Libyan conflict reached a permanent ceasefire agreement across the country on 23 October 2020.[1] The agreement contained a term on the removal of various groups of foreign forces and mercenaries from the country before 23 January 2021. However, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) obtained information verifying that recruitment drives and mercenary deployment to Libya are still underway.
Hundreds of Syrians were transferred to Libya by armed Syrian groups and Russian security companies between 23 October 2020 and early April 2021. Furthermore, STJ discovered that the large percentage of recruits sent to Libya during the recent period were civilians from several Syrian provinces, including the countryside of Damascus, As-Suwayda, Deir ez-Zor, and Raqqa, as well as the city of Palmyra in Homs province. Notably, most of these provinces are controlled by the Syrian government.
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The enlistments, but not transfers, were carried out by para-military groups directly linked with the Syrian government, including the National Defense Militia in Deir ez-Zor, the Army of Free Tribes in Raqqa,[2] a number of Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party offices across various Syrian provinces, volunteer conscripts or soldiers with the 5th Corps of the Syrian Army,[3] and al-Sayyad Company for Guarding and Protection Services, previously known as Islamic State (IS) Hunters.
These government affiliates lure Syrians into mercenarism in Libya by offering them salaries up to 1,000 USD a month and other tempting benefits, such as “writing off the names of those involved in security issues [from lists of people wanted by the Syrian government] and exempting potential conscripts from compulsory and reserve military service within the ranks of the Syrian army.” In doing so, recruiters exploit the disadvantageous humanitarian and economic conditions suffered by many Syrians as a result of the ongoing conflict.
After being recruited, informed sources and eyewitnesses interviewed by field researchers with STJ testified that the Russian Wagner Group is practically responsible for vetting the new recruits. Once Syrian recruits arrive in Libya, the company supervises the assignment of fighters to military bases, camps, and facilities, allegedly to perform guard services.
In addition to witness testimonies, STJ obtained a list of names likely sent by Syrian-armed or partisan bodies to Russian forces in September 2020. The list contains the names of 15,688 Syrian citizens. The sources which provided STJ with the list claimed that these names belong to recruits approved for deployment in Libya. Syrian entities responsible for recruitments appear to have preliminarily approved the recruits, then provided the Russians with detailed personal information about the people on the list, including the person’s name and surname, the names of his father and mother, and his place and date of birth, including his residence and additional remarks. STJ could not verify whether the recruits discussed in this report had their names included on this list.
Within the context of continued recruitment of Syrians as fighters to Libya, STJ also obtained evidence that the Turkish government— another actor in the Syrian conflict recruiting and deploying mercenaries — continued sending Syrians from the areas where they maintain a military presence to Libya to participate in combat alongside the forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA). Turkey not only transferred men to Libya, but additionally trained Syrian women to perform medical and logistical tasks before flying them to Libya, as well as additional transfers of civilian police personnel with their families.
Recruiters in areas controlled by the Syrian government continued the same mercenary transfers and flight routes they used in the past. They deployed Syrian recruits to Libya on board civilian carriers, such as Cham Wings Airlines, or military aircraft. When flown on military aircraft, recruits left Syria from the Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia Province, landing at either al-Khadim Airbase or Benina International Airport, the two major arrival destinations for recruits previously deployed to Libya.
To obtain details on the use of civilian carriers for military purposes, STJ interviewed a source with Cham Wings Airlines. The source said that at least 30 flights took off from Damascus International Airport to the Libyan city of Benghazi, flying recruits between early January and early April 2021. Furthermore, the source pointed out that over 30 similar flights were carried out from late October to late December 2020.
Additionally, STJ accessed information demonstrating that even though Syrian recruits were recently being assigned only to protection and guard services at military camps and facilities, their recruitment contracts clearly indicate that they must also perform combat-related tasks. This information is corroborated by a copy of a recruitment contract published by the news website Suwayda24. The second party to the contract—signed in As-Suwayda province— is al-Sayyad Company for Guarding and Protection Services. Article (11) of the contract defines the service term. The article reads: “For three months, the worker [recruit] shall continue to carry out his service and combat duties.” The nature of the duties the recruits signed up for is reemphasized in Article (12), reading: “The worker, while working for the Company and for the duration of his service and combat tasks, is obligated to complete confidentiality and not to disclose, by any means, information that indicate his location or the nature of the tasks assigned to him.”[4]
Much more at the link including a link for a PDF and links for resources. 
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Posted by badanov 2021-06-26 00:00||
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