Kamel Gadhgadhi (Jihadi Militant, Tunisia)

• Full name: Kamel Ben Taïeb Ben Mohammed Gadhgadhi
• Pseudonym: Abu Sayaf, Abu Walid
• Alternatives: Kamel el-Zaqatel
• Location: Tunisia
• Affiliation: Partisans of Shari’a in Tunisia [AST], Soldiers of Monotheism in Tunisia [JJT], Brigade of Uqba Bin Nafa’a [KUIN]

Kamel Gadhgadhi (°1979) was an Islamist militant from Tunisia’s Jendouba governorate. He studied accountancy and economy at universities in Tunisia.¹ In 2003, Gadhgadhi traveled to America for his studies. He was later expelled from the country over issues with his immigration status and went through a period of unemployment and heavy drinking.² In 2008, Gadhgadhi traveled to Malaysia where he befriended compatriot Moncef Ouerghi.³ He returned to Tunisia the next year and began working for an insurance company. At the same time, Gadhgadhi and Ouerghi became martial arts adepts.⁴

In the wake of the 2011 Tunisian Revolution, Gadhgadhi was drawn to Salafism and eventually joined the Partisans of Shari’a in Tunisia [AST; Ansar Achariaâ].⁵ He linked up with the movement’s covert armed wing. In 2012, Gadhgadhi underwent arms training during two trips to Libya.⁶ He also was also involved in managing the movement’s finances and facilitating the travel of AST militants to Libya.⁷

In January 2013, AST leader Seifallah Ben Hassine tasked Gadhgadhi with heading a special purposes cell set up to assassinate prominent Tunisian political figures.⁸ This module included several other senior AST operatives such as Ezzedine Abdellaoui, Lotfi Ezzine and Boubaker el-Hakim.⁹ Gadhgadhi personally shot and killed Chokri Belaïd on Feb. 06, 2013.¹⁰ Following the assassination, he sought shelter with the Brigade of Uqba Bin Nafa’a [KUIN; Katibat Uqba Ibn Nafaâ] on Mount Chaâmbi.¹¹ Gadhgadhi reportedly participated in the Jul. 29, 2013 attack on Tunisian troops in which eight soldiers were killed on the mountain.¹² He reportedly cut off the head of one of the dead bodies.¹³

Later that year, Gadhgadhi moved to Tunis where he established the Soldiers of Monotheism in Tunisia [JTT; Jund al-Tawhid fi-Tunis].¹⁴ Gadhgadhi’s outfit provided logistical support to KUIN fighters operating on Mount Chaâmbi.¹⁵ By then, Tunisian authorities were actively hunting him down. Gadhgadhi reportedly escaped arrest on several occasions.¹⁶ Security forces eventually caught up with Gadhgadhi and eliminated him and six of his associates during a raid on his hideout in Raoued, in the Ariana governorate, on Feb. 03, 2014.¹⁷ Gadhgadhi was wearing an explosives belt at the time of his death.¹⁸