Editing Mercenary (section)

====Syrian civil war====
[[File:Mercenary.jpg|thumb|right|A banner on the wall of the office of the [[Mahdi Army]] in [[Al Diwaniyah]], [[Iraq]] announcing the killing of one of the militia members in Syria]]

The [[Free Syrian Army]] claimed the [[Bashar al-Assad]] regime recruited mercenaries from [[Iran]], [[Hezbollah]] militia, and the [[Iraq]]i [[Mahdi Army]] militia during the [[Syrian civil war]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/syria-rebels-assad-regime-recruiting-iranian-hezbollah-mercenaries-1.398010|title=Syria rebels: Assad regime recruiting Iranian, Hezbollah mercenaries|publisher=Associated Press/Haaretz|date=27 November 2011|access-date=18 May 2012|archive-date=19 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519172458/http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/syria-rebels-assad-regime-recruiting-iranian-hezbollah-mercenaries-1.398010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15779420,00.html|title=Baghdad funnelling pro-Assad militias to Syria|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=3 March 2012|access-date=18 May 2012|archive-date=19 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519161706/http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15779420,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Russian government had approved of the deployment in 2016 of the [[Wagner Group]] mercenaries to fight for the Syrian government.<ref name="WagnerSyria">{{cite news |title=How Wagner Came to Syria |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2017/11/02/how-wagner-came-to-syria |access-date=24 May 2020 |newspaper=The Economist |date=2 November 2017 |archive-date=29 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129093846/https://www.economist.com/europe/2017/11/02/how-wagner-came-to-syria |url-status=live }}</ref> The Wagner Group is reported to have played an important role in helping to turn the tide of the Syrian civil war in favor of the government, which in 2015 appeared to be close to collapse.<ref name="WagnerSyria"/> On 7 February 2018, the Wagner Group mercenaries were reported to have attacked an American base in Syria together with a pro-Assad militia in what is known as the [[Battle of Khasham]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gibbons-Neff |first1=Thomas |title=How a 4-Hour Battle Between Russian Mercenaries and U.S. Commandos Unfolded in Syria |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/world/middleeast/american-commandos-russian-mercenaries-syria.html |work=The New York Times |date=24 May 2018 |access-date=27 May 2020 |archive-date=28 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528034251/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/world/middleeast/american-commandos-russian-mercenaries-syria.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Turkey used Syrian mercenaries against the [[Kurds in Syria|Kurds]] in Syria.<ref>{{cite news |title=Syrian mercenaries sustain Turkey's foreign policy |url=https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-syrian-mercenaries-foreign-policy/a-55098604 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=30 September 2020 |access-date=3 February 2021 |archive-date=15 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215060751/https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-syrian-mercenaries-foreign-policy/a-55098604 |url-status=live }}</ref>