Katiba al-Bittar al-Libi is an armed Islamist group operating in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. The group is composed largely of Libyan fighters who entered Syria in the wake of the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

and early post-civil uprising stage of the Syrian Civil War. Though the group is composed largely of Libyans, the group also has large amounts of

Tunisians Tunisians ( ar, تونسيون ''Tūnisiyyūn'', aeb, توانسة ''Twensa'') are the citizens and nationals of Tunisia in North Africa, who speak Tunisian Arabic and share a common Tunisian culture and identity. In addition, a Tunisian diaspo ...

and

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

Maghrebis Maghrebis or Maghrebians ( ar, المغاربيون) is a modern Arabic term meaning "Westerners", mainly referring to the western part of the Arab world and North Africa. Maghrebis are predominantly of Arab and Berber or mixed Arab-Berber ori ...

from Europe, reportedly the perpetrators of the

November 2015 Paris attacks The November 2015 Paris attacks () were a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks that took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 9:15p.m., three suicide bombers ...

and

Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...

, including

Abdelhamid Abaaoud Abdelhamid Abaaoud ( ar, عبد الحميد ابعود, ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ʾAbā ʿŪd; 8 April 1987 – 18 November 2015) was a Belgian-born Islamic terrorist who had spent time in Syria. He was suspected of having organized multiple terror a ...

, who was suspected to be a leader of the group, were members of the group or affiliated with it, the group also pioneered the

Inghimasi Inghimasi ( ar, اِنْغِمَاسِيّ, Inġimāsīy, "become immersed"), also called shahid ( ar, شَهِيد, "martyr") and istishhadi ( ar, إِسْتِشْهَادِيّ, "martyrdom seeker"), are forlorn hope or suicide attack shock t ...

tactic used in the attack, and its fighters have largely employed the tactic on the battlefield. The group maintained close ties to Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia through networks in Libya and has established multiple training camps across Libya and has recruited Tunisians to these camps, which were located around

Sirte Sirte (; ar, سِرْت, ), also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte, is a city in Libya. It is located south of the Gulf of Sirte, between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups, and loyalty to Muammar G ...

and

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

. During beginning of the infighting between ISIL and its former allies such as

Jabhat al-Nusra Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...

and

Ahrar al-Sham Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya ( ar-at, حركة أحرار الشام الإسلامية, Ḥarakat Aḥrāru š-Šām al-Islāmiyah, lit=Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, is a coalition ...

fighters from Katiba al-Bittar took part in open fighting against ISIL's opponents in

Markada Markada ( ar, مَرْكَدَة, sometimes ''Markadah'' or ''Margada'') is a town in southern al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It is the administrative center of the Nahiya Markada consisting of 13 municipalities. In the 2004 census, Ma ...

and

Atarib Atarib ( ar, أتارب, ʾAtārib), also known as Atharib or Athareb, is a town in western Aleppo countryside, Aleppo Governorate, Syria. Located west of the city of Aleppo and southeast of Reyhanlı in Turkish-administered Hatay Province, it i ...

, in the process losing several fighters. In June 2014 after

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ( ar, أبو بكر البغدادي, ʾAbū Bakr al-Baḡdādī; born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai ( ar, إبراهيم عواد إبراهيم علي محمد البدري السامرائي, ʾIb ...

declared that ISIL had restored the

Caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

the group pledged allegiance to ISIL.{{cite web , url=https://ctc.usma.edu/the-islamic-states-libyan-external-operations-hub-the-picture-so-far/ , title=The Islamic State's Libyan External Operations Hub: The Picture So Far , date=21 December 2017 , work= Combating Terrorism Center at West Point , first=Johannes , last=Saal , access-date=23 August 2022 In 2014, the group reportedly sent a delegation from

al-Raqqah Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Rom ...

to Libya and established the Islamic Youth Shura Council in the city of Derna, which would later go on to become ISIL's

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

Province.

References

Islamist groups