Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Russian Mercenaries in Libya

The Washington Post published on 5 November 2019 an article titled "Arrival of Russian Mercenaries Adds Deadlier Firepower, Modern Tactics to Libya's Civil War" by Sudarsan Raghavan.

Hundreds of Russian mercenaries are fighting alongside renegade Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter as he seeks to oust Libya's United Nations-backed government. The mercenaries work for the Wagner Group, a private army that is linked to a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow apparently sees an opening to gain back billions in lucrative oil and military contracts that it lost when former President Gaddafi was killed in 2011.