Afrinpost – Special
Despite the denial attempts and the statements of Turkish and Pakistani political officials, preparations are underway in Afrin to send mercenaries from the “National Army”, which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, to Kashmir. Replaying what happened when they were sent to Libya and Azerbaijan. However, the Horn of Africa will be the second destination, as it has been strengthening its presence since 2011.
The Afrinpost learned from leading sources in the Islamic militia “National Army” in Afrin region that preparations are underway to equip about 15 thousand mercenaries to travel to Pakistani Azad Kashmir (the Pakistani name for the region, while the Indian name is Jammu Kashmir), in exchange for a monthly fee of two thousands US dollars, and the Turkish authorities informed all militias to submit lists of those wishing to join the group.
On the other hand, the Islamic militias were informed to prepare 3-5 thousand mercenaries to travel to the State of Qatar, and upon its request, but the destination to which they will be head to is not yet known.
The mercenaries themselves wish to travel to Qatar to protect sports facilities during the World Cup finals, but it soon became known that it is too early to prepare for the World Cup finals, and that Qatar is just a station on the road or for propaganda, and thus it is not clear where the destination is after Qatar, but the Doha government requested that, and on this basis, the mercenaries are given one of the two destinations, either Kashmir or Qatar.
It is expected that Somalia will be the destination after Qatar. A report published by the Turkish newspaper, Zaman, citing private Syrian sources, stated that the transfer of Syrian mercenaries would take place through coordination with the leaders of the pro-Turkish Somali groups in Mogadishu, and by order of Erdogan.
The newspaper added that Turkish officials held a meeting in the border village of Meydan Akbas, Afrin, on November 12, with the aim of preparing to send a number of mercenaries to Somalia. According to the sources, the meeting dealt with creating training camps before sending them to Somalia.
The sources said that Turkey had opened a border crossing in the village of Benreka in Rajo district, which is close to the Turkish base in Afrin, in order to facilitate the transfer of militants to Turkey and then to Somalia.
According to the sources, the meeting dealt with preparing camps to train fighters before sending them to Somalia, noting that some Syrian militia leaders refused to send their fighters to Somalia, but after pressure by Turkish intelligence, they gave in to orders.
In the same context, Zaman newspaper quoted, according to a Somali journalist, as saying that Erdogan seeks to “Turkify Somalia” by changing the names of vital streets, institutions and facilities from Arabic to Turkish.
Journalist Abdul Qadir Hassan said that several Turkish companies had seized vital Somali facilities, most notably the Turkish company Favori’s seizure of the concession for managing “Adam Adi International Airport”, and the Turkish “Albayrak” company seized 55% of Mogadishu’s port revenues 5 years ago.
He pointed out that the Turkish military intervention in Somalia comes under the pretext of supporting the federal army against the rebels, but the truth is otherwise, as Turkey supports “terrorist groups” to control over the country’s capabilities and protect its influence in Somalia, as he put it.
