Islamic State in Egypt’s Gharabli Network (Jihadi Entity, Egypt)

• Local Name: N/a
• Transliteration: N/a
• Alternatives: N/a
• Status: 2015 – 2015 Defeated
• Conflicts: Egyptian Islamist Militancy

The Islamic State in Egypt’s Gharabli Network [DaIM-G] was an Egyptian jihadi group that served as a branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham]. It grew out of the mainland wing of the Partisans of the Holy House [ABaM; Ansar Bait al-Maqdis]. Following the ABaM’s pledge of allegiance to the DaIISh in November 2014, many of the group’s operatives outside the Sinai remained loyal to al-Qa’ida. Headed by senior ABaM commander Hisham Ashmawi, they split ranks and formed the Group of Sentinels [JaM; Jama’at al-Murabitoun]. Ashmawi’s deputy Ashraf al-Gharabli joined the ABaM in switching allegiance to the DaIISh and quietly reorganized the remnants of the mainland branch over the next months.¹ Eventually a network of cells in Greater Cairo and the western desert regions emerged. The DaIM-G became a strategically important asset to the DaIISh which long wanted to establish a corridor between its branches in Libya and the Sinai.²

On Jul. 11, 2015, the DaIM-G carried out its first operation when it attacked the Italian consulate in Qahira with a car bomb. A local civilian was killed in the blast.³ Later that month, cadres of the outfit kidnapped and subsequently beheaded a Croatian engineer in the Giza governorate.⁴ The DaIM-G was also responsible for the car bomb attack on the Qalyubiya provincial police headquarters in Shubra el-Kheima in August 2015.⁵ The network was also blamed for the thwarted assassination bid against a top prosecutor in September.⁶

The DaIM-G had been quietly active in Egypt’s western desert regions since its inception. In September 2015, the group broke its cover when members abducted and later beheaded a guide for the Egyptian army in the Bahriya oasis.⁷ Security forces conducted a series of operations against the network in the wake of the killing. Egyptian troops mistakenly killed a group of Mexican tourists during one of these confrontations.⁸ On Sep. 21, 2015, security forces eliminated ten DaIM-G militants during a raid on their camp in the vicinity of Bahriya.⁹ Four days later, police raided another hideout of the network in the village of Awsim, killing nine of its operatives and disrupting preparations for a series of bomb attacks. Senior network associate Mohammed Nasser narrowly escaped arrest during the operation.¹⁰ The offensive severely disrupted the DaIM-G’s activities.

The DaIM-G was dealt another major setback on Nov. 08, 2015 when policemen eliminated Gharabli during a shootout in the capital’s Marg neighborhood.¹¹ The network was unable to recover from the loss of its leader and disintegrated. Remaining members most likely joined other DaIISh affiliates active in the country.