Katiba al-Bittar al-Libi is an armed Islamist group operating in 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. The group is composed largely of Libyan fighters who entered Syria in the wake of the Arab Spring 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 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 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, 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 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, in the process losing several fighters. In June 2014 after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared that ISIL had restored the Caliphate in Mosul 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 to Libya and established the Islamic Youth Shura Council in the city of Derna, which would later go on to become ISIL's Cyrenaica Province.

References

Islamist groups