Turkish regime deploys child soldiers to Libya

Media reports have said that teenagers are being sent from Syria to Libya to take part in the ongoing war there.

The children are among well over 2,000 terrorists believed to have been deployed over the past year via Turkey in support of the Government of National Accord against the Libyan army. They are issued forged identity documents with false information about their date and place of birth.

Some of the children used the names of their older brothers in their fake papers, and the recruitment of child soldiers is ongoing.

One of the sources, a civilian from the town of Marea in northern Syria, says that in January, a terrorist ringleader affiliated to the so-called the ‘Moatasim Division’, came to his shop with three children between the ages of 15 and 16. The civilian, who was not identified by name to shield him from possible retribution, said, “They told me they would go to Libya with the approval of their families. They were very happy to receive a salary of $3,000.00 [promised to them by recruiters].

“I asked one of them if he knew how to use a weapon, and he responded he would learn all of this in the military camp where he would be with his peers.”

The child said the camp was set up by the division and trained children in groups of 25. The children were told that they could contact their families from Libya and return home in three months “with a big amount of money” and that they would get free cigarettes, food and housing.

A fighter affiliated to the Turkish-backed ” Sultan Murad Division”, who is currently in Tripoli, where the Government of National Accord sits, is quoted as saying there are at least five children in his group.

The fighter said, “It is very clear that they are physically children.”

Basma Qaddour