”Desperation”: Ex-Intelligence Chief on Putin's Decision to Deploy Mercenaries in Ukraine

Mar 5, 2022 • Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper reacts to indications that Russia is poised to deploy up to 1,000 more mercenaries to Ukraine.

Mercenary Under Attack in Libya
Feb 26 - Video appears to show Libyan protesters capturing African mercenary. Deborah Lutterbeck reports

La garde tchadienne au secours du colonel Kadhafi
Le Mouvement pour la justice et l'égalité, le plus armé des groupes rebelles du Darfour (ici photographié en 2007 au Soudan), fournirait aussi des hommes au colonel Kadhafi.
LE FIGARO: N'Djamena aurait envoyé des troupes pour soutenir le «guide» libyen, qui recruterait également des groupes armés soudanais.

Le Tchad aurait envoyé des soldats au secours du colonel Kadhafi. C'est ce qu'affirme le site Tchadactuel, habituellement bien renseigné grâce à des sources proches du palais présidentiel de N'Djamena. Selon ce site, le président Idriss Déby lui-même aurait ordonné ce déploiement. Des habitants de Benghazi confirment l'arrivée de ces troupes. >>> Par Pierre Prier | Jeudi 24 Février 2011

Mercenaries Stream Toward Tripoli as Qaddafi Digs In
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BAIDA, Libya — Thousands of African mercenaries and militiamen were massing on roads heading toward Tripoli on Wednesday to reinforce the stronghold of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi as rebels protesting his 40-year rule claimed to have taken control of cities closer to the capital, witnesses said.

The week-old uprising that has swept the country now appeared headed for a decisive stage, with Colonel Qaddafi fortifying his bastion in Tripoli and opponents in the capital saying they were making plans for their first coordinated protest.

“A message comes to every mobile phone about a general protest on Friday in Tripoli,” one resident there said, adding that Colonel Qaddafi’s menacing speech to the country on Tuesday had increased their determination “100 percent.”

The looming signs of a new confrontation came as a growing number of Libyan military officers and officials said Wednesday that they had broken with Colonel Qaddafi over his intentions to bomb and kill Libyan civilians challenging his four decades of rule. >>> KAREEM FAHIM and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK | Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Life of a Mercenary: Dodging Death for Dollars
BRISBANE TIMES: The opportunity to earn up to triple his normal salary proved as irresistible to Darren Hoare as it has to thousands of other former soldiers.

Over the past few years, these ex-servicemen regularly farewelled family and friends to fight in the private armies securing the deadly streets of Iraq.

Mr Hoare, a former RAAF airman and father of three from Willowbank, west of Brisbane, was killed on Sunday, one of two contractors allegedly shot during an argument with a fellow mercenary.

The deaths have once again cast a shadow on the fast-growing private security industry.

British newspaper The Times estimates there are 132,610 contractors working in Iraq for 32 security companies from the US and UK.

The contractors tend to be men with military backgrounds, who have traded in their uniforms to become guns for hire.

They are paid upwards of $1000 a day by private companies, governments or aid groups to act as bodyguards for VIPs or dignitaries and guard facilities. >>> Scott Casey | Tuesday, August 11, 2009