The channel said the head of a Wagner Group unit in charge of recruitment in the southern Syrian city of Suwayda was detained. The Saudi-owned Al-Hadath news channel reported on Wednesday that Russian military police waged an arrest campaign against Wagner commanders and members across Syria shortly after the mutiny began. The strikes in Libya coincide with apparent efforts by Russia to clip the wings of the Wagner group in the countries where it operates following the failed mutiny Prigozhin waged against Putin last weekend. It has operated as the unofficial arm of the Russian Defense Ministry, sending mercenaries to fight alongside Russia’s allies in the Middle East and Africa, including in Syria and Libya. The Wagner group is a private military company founded in 2014 by former Russian army officer Dmitri Utkin and businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of President Vladimir Putin. Turkey sent troops to support forces loyal to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli against the self-styled Libyan National Army led by eastern-based military strongman Khalifa Hifter, who in turn was backed by hundreds of Russian mercenaries deployed by the Wagner group. Foreign powers flooded the country with weapons and mercenaries in support of rival forces. Since the toppling of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, Libya descended into civil war and was divided into two rival administrations - one based in Tripoli and another in the east of the country. The Tripoli-based government has denied its involvement in the strike. He added that the origin of the strike was “unknown.”Īnother source from the Libyan Ministry of Defense told the Arabic news site Arabi21 that the drone used in the attack was Turkey's state-of-the-art unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), Akinci, which the Tripoli-based government previously bought from Ankara.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a military official told AFP that the attack on Al-Kharruba air base, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Benghazi, left no casualties.
A base housing units of Russia’s paramilitary Wagner group in eastern Libya was the target of a drone strike overnight on Friday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
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