Turkey, Qatar recruits Somali boys to fight as mercenaries in Libya




Turkey and Qatar recruited more than 2,000 Somali mercenaries to fight in Libya alongside the Government of National Accord (GNA)

Some of the Somali youths recruited by Doha and Ankara told Somali Guardian that “many of their country-mates were already deployed on the frontlines in Libya and were waiting to be sent to areas of active combat.”

Turkey had sent thousands of Syrian fighters to support the GNA

Libya has plunged into chaos since the 2011 toppling of dictator Moammar Gaddafi.

Clashes between the two main warring parties in the country, the Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar and the Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Fayez al-Serraj, have intensified recently.

Many foreign powers have backed different sides of the conflict with varying degrees of support, with the most prominent countries being Turkey backing the GNA and Egypt backing the LNA.

The possibility of further escalating the conflict in the North African country increased after Egypt’s parliament authorized the deployment of troops outside the country, allowing Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to act on his threat of military action against Turkish-backed forces in Libya.

Turkish media outlets said Ankara put in place a plan to increase its forces and military equipment in Libya to confront Egyptian forces in case Cairo decides to intervene.


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