Béchir Ben Néji (Jihadi Militant, Tunisia)

• Full name: Béchir Ben Néji
• Pseudonym: Hamza el-Mor, Hamza al-Nimr
• Alternatives: N/a
• Location: Tunisia, fmr Algeria
• Affiliation: Brigade of Uqba Bin Nafa’a [KUIN], fmr Base Organization in the Islamic Maghreb [AQIM], fmr Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat [GSPC]

Béchir Ben Néji was an Algerian jihadi who joined the predecessor of the Base Organization in the Islamic Maghreb [AQIM; Tanzim al-Qa’ida fi-Bilad al-Maghreb al-Islami] in 2003.¹ No information is available on his activities in Algeria.

In 2013, Ben Néji was tasked with reinforcing the Tunisian-based Brigade of Uqba Bin Nafa’a [KUIN; Katibat Uqba Ibn Nafaâ].² He became a key commander and partook in some of the group’s most prolific attacks; including the July 2013 killing of eight soldiers on Mount Chaâmbi, the May 2014 attack on the residence of the Tunisian interior minister and the Jul. 2014 attack on a military position in which fifteen troops died.³ Ben Néji was later tasked with leading the KUIN’s fighters on Mount Semmama.⁴ In that capacity, he reportedly helped oversee the Aug. 29, 2016 attack on a military vehicle in which three soldiers were killed.⁵ Ben Néji was also involved in arms smuggling.⁶ Tunisian security forces eliminated him during an encounter on Mount Semmama on Jan. 20, 2018.⁷