Erdogan and Tamim use Chadian, Sahel terrorists to support militias in Tripoli

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan concluded his visit
to Doha on Thursday, July 2 to meet the Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad in light of
Turkey’s continued interference in Arab countries like Libya, Syria and Iraq.
Ankara is searching for financial support to fund its military operations and
recruit new mercenaries, as the stock of Syrian mercenaries has run out,
especially from al-Qaeda and militant groups in Africa’s Sahel and Sahara
region, as well as the Chadian opposition fighting alongside the Tripoli
militias.
The Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported that both sides
discussed relations between the two countries and ways to support and enhance
them in various fields. The two leaders also discussed the most important
developments in Palestine, Libya, Syria and Yemen.
The situation in Libya came at the top of issues discussed
during the meeting, including the Turkish-Qatari cooperation to continue the
Brotherhood-affiliated Government of National Accord’s (GNA) control of affairs
in Tripoli, plundering Libya’s wealth, and threatening Egypt and other
neighboring countries.
In light of the decrease in the number of Syrian mercenaries
transported by Turkey from Idlib and Aleppo to Tripoli, after it had previously
flown about 1,000 mercenaries, the latest flight of Syrian mercenaries was less
than 200, as the Syrians are refusing to fight in Libya due to the high death
among them while fighting the Libyan National Army (LNA).
Libyan sources warned that Turkey was taking advantage of
the undeclared ceasefire phase after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
announced that Sirte and al-Jafra were a red line not to be crossed by those
supporting the GNA and Brotherhood militias.
The sources pointed out that Erdogan and Tamim discussed
supporting the GNA militias with more mercenaries in preparation for upcoming
battles in Libya and to compensate for the losses that occurred in recent
weeks.
They also pointed out that the Turkish intelligence services
demanded that the Qatari regime activate its relations with the Chadian
opposition and militants in the Sahel and Sahara region, especially from Mali, to
support the militias in Tripoli.
The Chadian militias are allied with al-Qaeda, as well as
Ibrahim Jadhran’s militia and other militants whose camps in the mountains and
valleys near Beni Walid were bombed a week ago by the LNA.
Libyan sources confirmed that Turkey and Qatar are preparing
to fight battles against the LNA in southern and central Libya in order to
exhaust Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces by using Chadian mercenaries and
militants from Mali, in addition to some local militias.
Qatar has extensive relations with the Chadian opposition
and terrorist groups in the Sahel and Sahara region. The Chadian mercenaries
are made up of elements of the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad
(MDJT) who moved to work in southern Libya as activists claiming to be Libyan,
along with the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) in Chad,
which is led by General Mahamat Nouri, a famous Chadian opposition leader who
almost seized the capital N'Djamena in 1998.
Most of the Chadian opposition claim to be from the Toubbou
tribe that extends to southern Libya in order to justify their presence, and
there were reports that the GNA supported their movements under the political
cover of the Southern Protection Forces led by Hassan Mousa al-Tabbawi, but
they assaulted and displaced civilians.
African Sahel countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali,
Mauritania, Niger and Chad, are also witnessing Turkish and Qatar activity
under the guise of cooperation and support, while their relationships are
actually with militant and rebel groups.
Intelligence reports have monitored the Qatari and Turkish
penetration of the Sahel region and their relationship with the Macina
Liberation Front, which has been responsible for much of the terrorist attacks
and strife in the Sahel and Sahara.
In June 2012, the French weekly Le Canard Enchaîné revealed
that Qatari funds were secretly sent to armed groups that had seized northern
Mali since mid-March 2012 and declared an Islamist republic. The international
community objected and France intervened militarily to stop the terrorists,
especially Ansar al-Dine and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO),
which was behind the kidnapping of seven Algerian diplomats in the Malian city
of Gao.
The French weekly published an article entitled "Our
friend in Qatar finances the militants of Mali", which stated that the
French military intelligence was aware that armed groups operating in northern
Mali had received financial support from Qatar for their activities in Mali,
stressing that Doha’s emir funded armed groups to establish an Islamist state
on the border with Algeria and to carry out terrorist activities within the
territory of this neighboring country and in the Sahel region.
French intelligence sources confirmed that "according
to information from the Military Intelligence Service, Tuareg rebels in the
National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), Ansar al-Dine, al-Qaeda
in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and other militant movements may have received
financial support from Qatar. It is clear that the kidnapping of foreigners and
smuggling of drugs and cigarettes is not enough to fill the needed expenditures
of militant groups."
The newspaper had previously revealed on March 26, 2011 that
Qatar was financing militant groups in the Horn of Africa and the African Sahel
region. Military intelligence confirmed that this vast region was a "new
haven for terrorism", pointing out that this development should not be
surprising.
On December 25, 2019, officials in Niger announced the
arrest of a three terrorists, two of whom had Turkish citizenship, in addition
to a local collaborator from Niger.
Goa Mayor Sadou Diallo has also accused Qatar’s emir of
financing terrorists through the airports of Gao and Timbuktu under the guise
of humanitarian and food aid.
LNA spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Mesmari also spoke
of Qatar’s "plan to create an extremist state in southern Libya and the
neighboring countries."
Mesmari said during a press conference in February 2019 that
Chadian rebel leader Timan Erdimi is leading the military operations in southern
Libya with support from Qatar.