Mercenary armies are running amok around the world Candace Rondeaux , A recent report by UN investigators detailed a bungled plot to prop up Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar with mercenaries, allegedly including a special hit squad. Not all the details of that 2019 plot are clear, but it underscores the increasing use and ongoing opacity of operations by private military contractors around the world. It may take years to unravel the tangled web surrounding "Project Opus," the bungled 2019 mercenary operation to prop up Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, which allegedly included efforts to deploy a special hit squad to Libya. The recently leaked UN report makes only glancing mention of Prince's alleged ties to the operation, but it marks the second time since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that Prince's company, Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group, or FSG, has been linked to allegations of trying to sell military services in Libya.