Samer al-Atrash: The al-Nusra thief who met his fate in Libya

The Libyan National Army (LNA) succeeded in killing a large number of Syrian mercenaries transferred to Libya by Turkey in an airstrike on an area western the northern city of Sirte.

The killed terrorists included Samer al-Atrash, one of the most dangerous militants.

The LNA launched the strike on June 9 and it left over 390 Syrian hirelings, who were transferred to Libya to fight alongside the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), dead, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said Turkey had sent over 13,000 hirelings from Syria to Libya so far.

Who is he?

Samer al-Atrash, codenamed Abu Ya'arib al-Athari, was born in Aleppo, Syria. He was one of the most famous terrorists fighting for the sake of Turkey in the Syrian city.

Al-Atrash was a senior commander within al-Nusra Front, before he was kicked out of it for involvement in theft.

He lived for some time in Idlib, especially after the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the northeastern Syrian city.

He travelled to Libya in January 2020 to fight side by side with the GNA.

Nevertheless, he was killed in the aforementioned strike along with other Syrian terrorists fighting against the LNA in Libya.

His remains were found where the strike had been launched, according to news reports.

Pro-Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, accounts mourned him. Some of his friends also posted photos of him during fighting in southern Tripoli in the past months.