Wissam Bin Hamid
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Wissam Bin Hamid was a Libyan jihadist militant and warlord.
Bin Hamid emerged as prominent figure of anti-Gaddafi forces during the First Libyan Civil War in 2011 as the leader of a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated battalion that included militants who had returned from Afghanistan.[1] In the aftermath of the civil war, Bin Hamid commanded the Libya Shield brigade, deployed by the General National Congress as a buffer.[2]
Second Libyan Civil War
At the outbreak of the Second Libyan Civil War, Bin Hamid was one of the most prominent leaders of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries (SCBR), a coalition of Islamist and jihadist militant groups[1] fighting against the forces of Khalifa Haftar.[3]
Ben Hamid featured prominently in a 2014 video by al-Qa'ida-aligned jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL), including sitting next to ASL's leader Muhammad al-Zahawi and praising military successes against Haftar's armies. According to analysts, ASK and SCBR illustrated the degree to which the United States misjudged its allies in Libya.[3]
Bin Hamid was reportedly killed in a December 2016 airstrike, according to interrogations of the Shura Council's spokesman by Libyan National Army.[1][4]
References
- 1 2 3 "Libyan army: Militant leader Wissam Bin Hamid killed". Al-Arabiya. 2017-01-07. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ↑ "South Libya clashes kill 47 in three days". Gulf News. AFP. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- 1 2 Jocelyn, Thomas (2014-10-11). "Ansar al Sharia video features jihadist once thought to be US ally in Benghazi". Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ↑ "Captured militant confirms death of Benghazi militia leader". AP. 2017-01-07. Retrieved 2 November 2023.