Ansar al-Sharia is the Derna based branch of a larger Libyan group; the branch is headed by

Abu Sufian bin Qumu Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda Bin Qumu ( ar, أبو سفيان إبراهيم أحمد حمودة بن قمو, born 26 June 1959) is a citizen of Libya who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, ...

. In 2011 bin Qumu became the leader of a band of fighters in his hometown of Derna during the

2011 Libyan civil war The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Liby ...

. The group was reported as disbanding itself following the

U.S. Consulate attack in Benghazi The 2012 Benghazi attack was a coordinated attack against two Federal government of the United States, United States government facilities in Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya, by members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia (Libya), Ansar al ...

however by late 2013 the group had re-emerged in the city as a branch of the Benghazi-based

Ansar al-Sharia Ansar al-Sharia or Ansar al-Shariah is a name used by a collection of radical or militant Islamist groups or militias, in at least eight countries. While they share names and ideology, they lack a unified command structure. *Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen ...

under the slogan "A step toward building the Islamic state". In December 2014, Ansar al-Sharia joined the Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade and Jaysh al-Islami al-Libi in an umbrella organisation called the Majlis Shura al-Mujahidin Derna (Derna Mujahidin Consultative Council). The group has been involved in fighting with the forces of General

Khalifa Haftar Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar ( ar, خليفة بلقاسم حفتر, Ḵalīfa Bilqāsim Ḥaftar; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA) ...

in the

Second Libyan Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Second Libyan Civil War , partof = the Arab Winter, Libyan Crisis (2011–present), Libyan Crisis, Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, War on terror, and Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomat ...

. Ansar al-Sharia and the Majlis Shura al-Mujahidin Derna have opposed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant presence in Derna.

References

Organizations established in 2011 2011 establishments in Libya Jihadist groups in Libya Organizations based in Africa designated as terrorist Derna, Libya {{Libya-stub

See also

References