“Despite the Libyan-led agreement and ceasefire, there are many questions about the reasons behind maintaining such a large number of mercenaries in Libya until now,” the London-based monitoring group reported.
Between late 2019 and early 2020, Turkey deployed more than 18,000 militants in Libya to back its ally, the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).
Syrian militants helped GNA forces to repel an offensive by the Libyan National Army (LNA) on Tripoli. This came at a high cost for the militants, who lost at least 469 of their comrades.
According to the SOHR, Turkey halted the withdrawal of Syrian militants from Libya about a month ago. Around 10,000 of them had already returned to Syria.
Ankara may be preparing for a new military escalation in Libya. In the recent days, there were many speculations by GNA supporters of a Turkish plan to deploy fighter jets, namely F-16s, in the country.
New satellite images confirmed that Turkey is preparing al-Watiya Air Base in western Libya for the deployment of such advanced fighter jets.
The Turkish preparations come at a time when the intra-Libya peace talks are witnessing some progress. The ceasefire in the country is holding very well. Furthermore, there are no indications of a new LNA attack on the Tripoli-based GNA. These factors indicate that Turkish-backed forces are the side planning an attack.
source:southfront.org
