Mohammed Freij Ziada (Jihadi Militant, Egypt)

• Full name: Mohammed Muslim Ahmed Freij Ziada
• Pseudonym: Abu Du’a al-Ansari
• Alternatives: Mohammed Farih Ziada
• Location: Sinai
• Affiliation: Islamic State’s Province of Sinai [DaIWS], fmr Partisans of the Holy House [ABaM]

Mohammed Ziada was a senior Bedouin jihadi from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula. He was the brother was former founder and leader of the Partisans of the Holy House [ABaM; Ansar Bait al-Maqdis] Tawfiq Ziada.¹ Ziada was also related through marriage with Hamdeen Abu Faisal and was associated with members of the influential Abu Shita family.²

Following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Ziada joined his brother’s ABaM and served as one of its most senior operational commanders.³ Upon his brother’s death in March 2014, he succeeded him as the group’s top leader.⁴

As the ABaM’s chief, Ziada kept a very low profile. He was believed to be one of the driving forces behind the group’s pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham] in late 2014.⁵ He oversaw the transformation of the AbaM into the Islamic State’s Province of Sinai [DaIWS; Dawlat al-Islamiya Wilayat Sina’a]. Ziada continued to lead the group’s fighters in and around the city of Arish.⁶ He furthermore maintained contacts with DaIISh-affiliated jihadis based in Libya.⁷ The DaIWS never publicly acknowledged Ziada’s role and he did not feature in the outfit’s propaganda. Ziada communicated through Mohammed al-Isawi [aka Abu Osama al-Masri].⁸

Ziada was killed in an Egyptian air strike on a farm house near Arish on Aug. 04, 2016.⁹ Dozens of his men, including some of his senior deputies, also died in the strike.¹⁰ The DaIWS at first denied reports of his death, but later confirmed his killing and announced the appointment of a successor.¹¹ Ziada’s position in the DaIWS was only revealed after his death.¹²