OSINT SUMMARY
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) the official regional branch of Al Qaeda terrorist organization with its tentacles mainly in Libya released a statement eulogizing a top commander who was killed.
The jihadist group described the slain commander as the master of the squadron has suffered a huge blow from his death.
The slain jihadist leader identified as Hamid al Sha’iri was killed while travelling in between the Bibyan cities of Benghazi and Derna
The statement containing the eulogy of al Sha’iri was posted on jihadist’s official Twitter feed for Andalus Establishment for Media Production, the AQIM’s official propaganda arm.
Al Sha’iri along with a group of fighters were ambushed by soldiers of General Khalifa Haftar according to AQIM shortly after they left Derna.
Haftar’s men intercepted the jihadists and killed them together with their commander before they could get to their destination.
Al Sha’iri tactics would miss in the jihadist. He was a leader of a ‘squadron’ (battalion) that was also part of Ansar al Sharia Libya and that is backed by AQIM.
The Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb has constantly backed the Islamic State fighters who are pro-al Qaeda rivals in Derna where Hamid al Sha’iri was based.
