SOHR: Despite Ceasefire in Libya, Ankara Continues Recruiting Syrian Fighters

On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Turkey is still recruiting Syrian fighters, despite the ceasefire that was declared in Libya by the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA) and Libya’s Parliament.

SOHR's monitoring group claimed a new batch of Syrian militants, who were recruited from Aleppo and Idlib, had arrived in armed training camps in Turkey.

Until the moment, the destination of these mercenaries was not known after the exercises, whether the Turkish government would continue to force them into Libya to fight, especially after the Libyan-Libyan agreement.

Previously, the SOHR claimed that a new batch of fighters from Syrian factions loyal to Turkey was transferred to Libya to fight alongside the Government of National Accord(GNA) in its war against the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Turkish intelligence has transferred at least 120 fighters from the "Suleiman Shah, Legion of Sham, and Sultan Murad" factions from the Afrin region to Turkey and then to Libya.

Since last year, Turkey has deployed 17,420 Syrian militants, including 350 minors, in Libya to support the Government of National Accord.

The GNA, which is based in the west of the country, announced on Friday morning a ceasefire across the country. It also called for the demilitarisation of the contested strategic cities of Sirte and Al-Jufrah, which are controlled by the Libyan National Army.

In a separate statement, Aguila Saleh also called for a ceasefire. Both administrations called for an end to the oil blockade imposed earlier this year. The Tripoli-based government also called for parliamentary and presidential elections to be held in March.