Ansar al-Sharia (Libya)

Ansar al-Sharia was a al-Qaeda allied Islamist militant group that wanted to enforce Sharia law in Libya.^[5] The group was created in the year 2011, during the Libyan Civil War.^[11] Until January of 2015, the group was led by Muhammad al-Zahawi.^[4] The group has been designated a terrorist group by the United Nations,^[12] New Zealand,^[13] Iraq,^[14] Turkey,^[13] the United Arab Emirates,^[13] the United Kingdom,^[15] and the United States.^[16]

^{[1] [2]}

Ansar al-Sharia in Libya
أَنْصَارُ الشَّرِيعَةِ بِلِيبْيَا
Leaders	Abu Khalid al Madani[3] Mohamed al-Zahawi †[4]
Dates of operation	June 2012 – 27 May 2017[5][6][7]
Active regions	Benghazi[8] Other cities in Eastern Libya[2]
Ideology	Islamism Salafi jihadism Anti-Gaddafism
Status	Defunct
Size	4,500–5,000+[9]
Part of	Ansar al-Sharia Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna Ajdabiya Shura Council
Allies	Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia) Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb[1] Libya Shield 1 Rafallah al-Sahati Brigade[10] Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade
Opponents	Al-Saiqa (Libya) Operation Dignity coalition
Battles and wars	First Libyan Civil War Inter-civil war violence in Libya 2012 Benghazi attack Second Libyan Civil War Battle of Benghazi (2014–2017)
Designated as a terrorist group by	Iraq  Turkey  United Arab Emirates  United Kingdom  United Nations  United States
Preceded by February 17th Martyrs Brigade Abu Obayda bin al-Jarah Brigade Malik Brigade[5]

On the 27th of May 2017, the group disbanded itself, due to many losses that destroyed the leadership of the group and killed many of its fighters.^[13]

Photo of fighters from Ansar al-Sharia