Syrian Fighters Abandon Libyan War, Flee Towards Italy: Report

Via AlMasdarNews.com,

Some Syrian fighters that went to fight in Libya have since abandoned the war and fled to Italy, opposition media sites claimed, as cited by Al-Watan.

According to the reports, at least 17 of the Syrian fighters have already arrived in Italy after spending a short period of time inside Libya.

The reports said that the Syrian fighters intentionally accepted the deployment to Libya in order to later escape into Italy.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), some 2,400 Syrian fighters have already traveled to Libya thus far.

Another 1,200 fighters from a number of factions in the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are expected to make their way to Libya in the coming weeks. Middle East-based reporter for The Investigative Journal Lindsey Snell was told by a Libyan National Army (LNA) source:

“The mercenaries don’t believe that they will be returning to Turkey or Syria, so trying to get to Europe is the most logical option for them,” the source said.

Our #TIJ Exclusive; 3,000 Syrian mercenaries flew to Libya from Turkey. Cost of the trip from az-Zawiyah, Libya to Italy rose from $700 to $1300 “The mercenaries don’t believe that they will be returning to Turkey or Syria, 147 mercenaries paid down payments go to Europe” https://t.co/YLVoWTjuqT

— Mohamed Fahmy (@MFFahmy11) January 21, 2020

“And now, according to the LNA source, it appears that one escaped ISIS member managed to join a Turkish-backed militant faction bound for Libya and attempt to make his way to Europe,” The Investigative Journal reported further.

Last month, Bloomberg News released a story about Turkey offering contracts to Syrian fighters in order to help the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA).

Since then, several fighters have been seen inside of Libya, most notably near the capital city of Tripoli.