Syrian rebels sign up to fight for Azeris to feed families

BEIRUT: Desperate to help his family displaced by Syria’s war, pro-Turkey rebel fighter Abu Ahmad is waiting to be deployed to Azerbaijan hoping to earn almost 80 times his current salary.

“I signed up to fight more than a week ago to go to Azerbaijan... for three months in exchange for $2,000 a month,” the 26-year-old told AFP via a phone messaging service, using a pseudonym for his safety.

Clashes have raged between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces since Sunday over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian province that broke away from Azerbaijan in a bitterly fought war in the 1990s.

Baku and Yerevan have traded accusations over which side initiated the latest round of fighting. Almost 200 deaths have been reported, making it the deadliest round since the all-out war.

Ankara is backing its longtime ally Baku in the clashes and has been accused by Yerevan of sending its Syrian proxies to bolster Azerbaijani troops, allegations backed by France despite Azeri denials.

But AFP spoke to Syrian opposition fighters from Aleppo and Idlib preparing to set off for the Caucasus, and one already in the conflict zone.

From a camp for the displaced in a part of north Syria controlled by Turkey-backed rebels, Abu Ahmad told AFP he was heading to Karabakh hoping to better provide for his wife and children.