Hassan Bousbiaâ (Jihadi Militant, Tunisia)

• Full name: Hassan Ben Hammadi Bousbiaâ
• Pseudonym: Abu Muadh, Abu Amaz al-Tunisi
• Alternatives: Hassan Boussibia
• Location: Tunisia, Libya
• Affiliation: Islamic State’s Sabratha Network [DaISN], fmr Partisans of Shari’a in Tunisia [AST]

Hassan Bousbiaâ (º1985) was a little-known Tunisian jihadi. He became a mid-level operative of the Partisans of Shari’a in Tunisia [AST; Ansar Achariaâ] following the 2011 Tunisian Revolution.¹ When the authorities started cracking down on the movement in the summer of 2013, Bousbiaâ escaped to Libya.² In September 2013, he visited Yemen where he reportedly came into contact with unidentified local jihadi elements.³

In Libya, Bousbiaâ eventually became associated with local branches of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham]. He served as an Islamic judge for the local DaIISh affiliate in Sirte.⁴ After a while, Bousbiaâ joined his fellow Tunisian jihadis in Sabratha and became a key associate of the so-called Islamic State’s Sabratha Network [DaISN].⁵ He reportedly instructed the network’s members in theology.⁶ Bousbiaâ escaped the February 2016 air strike on the DaISN’s main compound.⁷

Bousbiaâ later acted as one of the network’s commanders during its attack on the city of Ben Guerdane in March 2016.⁸ Security forces eliminated him as they repelled the militants.⁹