After returning from battles in Libya and Azerbaijan, many Syrian mercenaries started opening private projects to overcome the difficulties of life in Syria, including those who retired from military life with these factions and started their own businesses, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

A young man known as his initial as (Kh.M.), a displaced from Damascus countryside who currently lives in the city of Afrin in the north-western of Aleppo countryside, told SOHR that he was one of these fighters recruited by Turkey and sent to fight in Libya. He opened a public swimming pool with a friend with an estimated contribution of $10,000 he received for fighting in Libya, where he remained for six months with the “al-Hamza Division.”

The young man said that he has a family of six, and since their displacement he has been working in various professions for a small wage. After his living conditions deteriorated, he joined the “National Army” and then went to fight in Libya.

The Syrian Observatory has monitored many other similar cases of young fighters in the Turkish-backed factions, who opened their own businesses after returning from Libya and Azerbaijan and receiving their salaries.

A 30-year-old young man known by his initial as (A.A.) displaced from the western Hama countryside, who lives in northern Aleppo countryside, stayed in Libya for nearly six months and received $10,000 for his military services. The young man opened a shop for sales and maintenance of phones.

He told SOHR that his “poor living conditions forced him to participate in the Libyan war, regardless of who wins the war, and like the thousands of young people who have been exploited by Turkey along with the leaders of the factions, as they were in need of work to support their families”.

He added that he was poorly paid with a salary of less than $70 per month, as he had previously worked with the “Sultan Suleiman Shah” faction, which was not enough to meet his needs in light of the high prices and lack of jobs, which forced him to go to fight in Libya.

A 36-year-old man known by his initial as (R.M.), a former fighter of “Al-Sham Corps” of the “National Army”, told SOHR that he bought a car after receiving $7,500 in return for fighting in Libya for nearly five months.

R.M. stated that he knew many of those who joined the war in Libya, and left their factions after getting paid for their fighting, and had started their own businesses to improve their living conditions.