The Guardian: The flow of Sudanese mercenaries into Libya threatens to prolong the war there

The Guardian newspaper said hundreds of Sudanese mercenaries recently joined the forces of retired Libyan General Khalifa Haftar fighting the Tripoli-based National Accord government, which reinforces fears that the Libyan conflict will turn into a fierce world war that would destabilize most of the region.

The British newspaper quoted leaders of two groups of Sudanese fighters in Libya as saying that they had recruited hundreds of these in recent months to fight alongside Haftar.

One of these leaders - based in southern Libya - stated that many young people come to join these groups to the point that "we no longer have the capacity to absorb these large numbers" as he put it.

He added that there are 3 thousand Sudanese mercenaries fighting now in Libya, which is more than estimated in the past.

He emphasized that the Sudanese mercenaries contributed decisively to controlling the oil fields for the benefit of Haftar's forces, noting that "had it not been for our intervention we would not have liberated them, we have contributed 50% of the military effort there", and the newspaper commented on this by saying that the United Nations confirmed the role played by the mercenaries In controlling those fields.

The leaders of these Sudanese mercenaries said that the new wave of recruits included many who fought against the rule of ousted Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who was overthrown last April after the Sudanese army withdrew its support after months of popular protests.

One of the leaders stated that many of these had been recruited in Darfur in recent months, while others had traveled from there to Libya for recruitment.

All the leaders whom Guardian interviewed said they hoped to return to Sudan to fight against the current transitional government that was formed after the fall of Bashir.

"I realize that we are mercenaries and we do not fight with honor or dignity, but this is temporary, and we will return home after completing our mission here," one of them said.

Another commander said that fighting as mercenaries in Libya was the only way to obtain the resources needed to fight the Sudanese state in the future.

Another high-ranking Sudanese mercenary, stationed near Tripoli, told the Guardian newspaper that "they do not have a timetable for leaving Libya, and that their presence there was temporary."

The newspaper pointed out that other reports talked about the presence of a large number of Sudanese fighters belonging to the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Libya, in response to a request from Haftar.

On the other hand, the Guardian quoted one of the leaders of these mercenaries as saying that they also help smuggling migrants heading to Europe across the borders between Sudan, Libya and the desert, justifying this by saying, "You know that when the fighters have nothing to do, they have to do something, Therefore, these mercenaries sometimes undertake the task of human trafficking. "