al-Taliah al-Salafiyah al-Mujahediyah Ansar al-Sharia ( English: Fighting Salafist Vanguard – Partisans of Islamic Law), better known by the name Ansar al-Sharia (Egypt), was a radical Islamist group that operated in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Background

Following the Egyptian revolution in 2011, many imprisoned members of Egypt's Jihadist movements were released from prison, and there was an easing of restraints on free speech. This allowed radical followers of Salafist Jihadism to resume their activities, garner support and recruit followers. Amongst those released from prison was Ahmad Ashoush, aka Abu Nizar. In 1989, Ashoush participated in the Jihad in Afghanistan, where he became a close friend of Mohammed Atef, who would later become the military chief of Al Qaeda, and became acquainted with

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

and Ayman Al-Zawahiri. In 1991 he returned to Egypt with a group of other Egyptians, founding the jihadi group Vanguards of Conquest, but was arrested in 1993 along with 150 of his followers and remained imprisoned until the revolution. Ashoush founded Ansar al-Sharia in November 2012. The same name has been used by Salafist Jihadist groups created in Yemen, Tunisia, Libya and elsewhere. The group releases statements through its media branch, al-Bayyan Media Foundation. In July 2013, in the wake of the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, a representative of a group of Salafist jihadists in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

announced the formation of a group called ''Ansar al-Sharia in Egypt''. At the time of this announcement, it was unclear what, if any connection there is with Ashoush's group. In the following weeks, all of the key members of Ansar al-Sharia were either arrested, joined the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis faction in the Sinai insurgency, or fled to Syria to take part in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. In March 2014, another group called ''Kataeb Ansar al Sharia fi Ard al Kinanah'', Brigades of Ansar al Sharia in the Land of Egypt, announced its formation and claimed responsibility for a series of shootings of Egyptian security personnel.

Ideology

In its founding statement, the group outlines its goals including: implementation of

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

, the re-establishment of the

Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

, supporting the

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

and liberating Muslim lands from occupation. In December 2012, the head of the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights requested the arrest of members of Ansar al-Sharia, after they posted online a list of prominent Egyptian personalities who should be assassinated should the state fail.

Relation to other groups

Ashoush, in 2012, claimed to be honored to be a part of al-Qaeda. Thus, he claimed that his group is part of a broader Al-Qaeda network in the region by stating this.

References

{{Authority control Jihadist groups in Egypt Organisations of the Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014) Salafi Jihadist groups Qutbist organisations