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Report: Child soldiers deployed to Libya by Turkish-backed Syrian National Army

An exclusive report, citing sources on the ground in Syria and Libya, says Syrian teenagers are being sent to Libya to take part in the civil war there.

Military vehicles of the Libyan internationally recognised government forces head out to the front line from Misrata, Libya February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili - RC24TE96MEQG
Military vehicles of the Libyan internationally recognized government forces head out to the front line from Misrata, Libya, Feb. 3, 2020. — REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili

Factions of the Turkish-backed opposition Syrian National Army are recruiting minors to fight in Libya, according to a report laying out in exhaustive detail Turkey’s use of Syrian rebels to prop up Libya’s Government of National Accord.

The 40-page document, prepared by Syrians for Truth and Justice and shared exclusively with Al-Monitor, cites sources on the ground in Syria and in Libya who say Syrian teenagers have been recruited and are part of their units in the battlefield. The report will be published Monday by the nonpartisan not-for-profit organization, which documents human rights abuses in Syria.

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