Wagner has deployed thousands of operatives in African and Middle Eastern countries including Mali, Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Syria. Wagner mercenaries are not operating in a combat role in Sudan, officials said. LIBYAIn Libya, Mr. Burns held talks in Tripoli with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, head of one of Libya’s two rival governments. U.N. experts said Wagner mercenaries were deployed Libya since 2018, helping Hifter's forces in their fight against Islamist militants in eastern Libya. The U.S. Africa Command, AFRICOM, estimated that some 2,000 Wagner mercenaries were in Libya between July-September 2020, before a cease-fire.
