UN expert says there are fewer foreign mercenaries in Libya due to war in Ukraine

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The number of foreign mercenaries in Libya has decreased due to the war in Ukraine because “a market has been found elsewhere,” a UN expert has claimed.

The Zambian-British jurist collecting evidence of rights violations in Libya as part of a group of experts commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council, Chaloka Beyani, has claimed that the number of mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group has also decreased.

The private security company is regarded as a shadow army by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has denied having links to the force.

According to British intelligence services, Moscow was most likely forced to prioritize Wagner personnel for the invasion of Ukraine to the detriment of operations in Africa and Syria.

However, not all foreign fighters have withdrawn from Libya, according to the report presented by Beyani and his team. Mercenaries were prolonging the conflict in the country and may have ignored international standards to protect civilians.

After a brief period of relative calm following years of open fighting over the death of Muammar Qaddafi, the country is once again divided into two administrations.