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Arrival of Russian mercenaries adds deadlier firepower, modern tactics to Libya’s civil war
Russian Wagner Group (PMC) troops in Libya.
The Kremlin uses Wagner mercs when it desires plausible deniability. Most are former Russian soldiers and all Wagner forces are billeted at a Russian military Spetznaz base in southwestern Russia.
Although the Kremlin always denies using Wagner forces, here is the Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin (circled) seated with Russia's highest military leaders.....
Russian Wagner Group (PMC) troops in Libya.
11/5/19
AL AZIZIYAH, Libya — At first, the fighters inside the empty school building, about 20 burly, heavily armed Russian mercenaries in dark fatigues, seemed trapped, recalled some of the Libyan militiamen who were there. But as the Libyans pushed forward, snipers opened fire from inside with high-powered rifles. Within minutes, three Libyan militiamen were killed, all shot in the head. Hundreds of Russian mercenaries, many highly trained and well-armed, are fighting alongside renegade Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter as he seeks to oust the country’s United Nations-backed government, according to Libyan military commanders and fighters, as well as U.S. military and other Western officials. These foreigners fighting for Hifter’s self-described Libyan National Army are introducing new tactics and firepower on the battlefield, threatening to prolong the most violent conflict in this North African country since the Arab Spring revolution eight years ago. “The entry of the Russian forces into the war has altered the battlefield,” said Osama al-Juwaili, a top commander of the Libyan government’s forces. “Their presence complicates things for us.” They represent the latest escalation in Libya’s proxy war, which has drawn in European and Arab countries — notably the United Arab Emirates and Egypt — despite an international arms embargo. And the arrival of these mercenaries comes at a time when Russia has been expanding its military and diplomatic reach across the Middle East, Africa and beyond, enjoying greater clout in places such as Syria where the United States is disengaging. “We are aware of Russian private military companies operating in Libyan National Army-controlled territory in eastern Libya, and they have also operated in western Libya,” said Rebecca Farmer, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military’s Africa Command.
Farmer said the Russian mercenaries work for the Wagner Group, a private army that experts have linked to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Wagner Group has previously appeared in combat in Syria, the Central African Republic, Ukraine and other countries considered strategic for the Kremlin’s geopolitical and economic interests. A senior Western official described the Russians as “guns for hire” and said, based on the analysis of intelligence and military experts, that these mercenaries were believed until recently to number about 300. But “very alarming” new information indicates there are thousands, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Once largely based in Hifter’s eastern Libyan strongholds, they are “now being brought to the front lines,” said the official, adding that these fighters include snipers and artillery experts and have brought “some tactical skills and edge to the fight.” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, declined to answer questions sent by The Post about the mercenaries, replying that “The Kremlin does not have this information,” while a spokesman for Prigozhin said the businessman “has nothing to do with the so-called ‘Wagner’ private military company” and declined to comment further.
The Kremlin uses Wagner mercs when it desires plausible deniability. Most are former Russian soldiers and all Wagner forces are billeted at a Russian military Spetznaz base in southwestern Russia.
Although the Kremlin always denies using Wagner forces, here is the Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin (circled) seated with Russia's highest military leaders.....