CNN: Rebels from Syria recruited to fight in Karabakh conflict

PanARMENIAN.Net - Further evidence is emerging of rebels from Syria being recruited to fight as mercenaries in Nagorno-Karabakh.

CNN spoke to a Syrian national who has been signed up to travel from northern Syria to Azerbaijan. The man, who declined to provide his real name, said he was living in the Afrin area of northern Syria but was originally from Damascus.

He said he belonged to a faction of the rebel Syrian National Army, which is backed by Turkey. Its leader had asked those prepared to go to Azerbaijan to register. "I voluntarily did that and 90% of my unit signed up," he told CNN via WhatsApp. "They told us that they will give us $1,500 a month.

"Our contracts are for three months, and every month we will be getting paid by the unit commander," he said, adding that he didn't know who was funding the operation.

The fighter said volunteers were gathering in the Hawar Kilis area near the Syria-Turkey border awaiting transportation. The crossing is controlled by a faction of the Syrian National Army.

A father of three, the fighter said said his family was living below the poverty line. He was prepared to travel to Azerbaijan "because of the money, and all the world knows that the Syrians living here are dying of hunger."

To begin with, the man thought the volunteers would be involved in guard duty "but after the first batch of fighters went to Azerbaijan, we learned it was about fighting like the fighting in Syria and Libya."

"We learned it's war and not work for a security company," he said.

Armenia was the first to report on Turkey's deployment of thousands of Syrian fighters to Azerbaijan on September 28. International media publications followed suit, as did reactions from the U.S., France and Russia.

Azerbaijan launched a large-scale offensive against Karabakh (Artsakh) in the morning of September 27, shelling Armenian positions and civilian settlements with large caliber weapons and rocket systems. Armenia and Karabakh have introduced martial law and total mobilization. The Armenian side has reported deaths and injuries both among the civilian population and the military. international and local journalists too have been injured in Azeri shelling of civilian settlements.