A new report by the Pentagon concluded that Turkey sent thousands of Syrian mercenaries to Libya during the first three months of this year, in the first comment from the ministry on Ankara's activities aimed at changing the balance of power in the Libyan conflict. The report comes at a time of escalation of the conflict in Libya, with the Turkish insistence on supporting extremist militias working for the government of Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli.

The Pentagon's quarterly report on counterterrorism operations in Africa, released Thursday, also reveals the nature of Turkey's "rewards" for fighters, paying money and offering citizenship to thousands of mercenaries fighting alongside militant Tripoli militias. The US Department of Defense estimated the number of Syrian mercenaries that Ankara sent to Tripoli in January, February and March between 3,500 and 3,800, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in its latest census that Turkey has used more than 16,000 fighters to date, of different nationalities.

On the other hand, the report revealed that Ankara deployed an "unknown number" of Turkish soldiers and military advisors in Libya during the first three months of this year.

Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed that the Turkish intelligence services transferred hundreds of militants from terrorist organizations, most of whom hold Tunisian nationality, from Syrian territory to Libya in recent months. The observatory stated that Ankara transferred more than 2,500 ISIS operatives, who hold Tunisian nationality, to Libya, on the orders of the Turkish regime Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to his own statistics.

The observatory revealed last week that "the Turks began to transfer a new batch of terrorists, from non-Syrians, who are present in the Turkish occupation areas in Syria to Libya, such as the Euphrates Shield regions." Among them were nationalities from countries in North Africa, according to Director of the Observatory Rami Abdel Rahman.

The observatory indicated that these people would participate in the fighting alongside the Al-Sarraj government militia against the Libyan National Army, and said that sending terrorists to Turkey "has become a general approach of Ankara." Parallel to that, the flow of Syrian mercenaries to Libya continued, but in smaller numbers than before, according to the observatory, which said the total Syrian mercenaries in Arab African countries reached 16 thousand, of whom about 5 thousand returned to Syria.

The death toll of the pro-Turkish militia as a result of the military operations in Libya has reached 470, including 33 children under the age of 18. According to the observatory, mercenaries returning to Syria encourage poor families to send their children, especially children, to fight in the mercenary ranks in Libya, taking advantage of their destitution situation. He stressed that among the mercenaries, 340 children were recruited by pro-Turkish militias, whether from Afrin or the displacement camps, under financial temptations by pro-Ankara groups such as "Sultan Murad" and "Suleiman Shah".

Per @DoD_IG report, the up to 3,800 #Syria|n fighters in #Libya on the payroll of #Turkey @USAfricaCommand "observed no credible reports of [extremist] affiliated militants among the mercenary forces from Syria...fighters were likely in Libya for personal or financial reasons"

— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) July 17, 2020