As many as 2,400 Turkey-backed Syrian rebels have so far reached Libya to fight against the east-based army led by Khalifa Haftar, a war monitor reported Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 1,700 fighters are preparing to fight while 24 fighters had been killed in the battles in Libya.

These fighters were sent there to join the forces led by the UN-backed government.

The Turkey-backed rebels opened four centers in the northern Syrian city of Afrin to recruit fighters to be sent to Libya, according to the observatory.

The first batch of Syrian rebels were sent to Libya by Turkey in December 2019.