DECEASED
- Full name: Lassaâd Sassi
- Pseudonym: Abu Hechmi, “Samir”
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: Tunisia, Algeria
- Affiliation:Soldiers of Asad Ibn al-Furat [JAIF], fmr Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat [GSPC]
Lassaâd Sassi (°ca 1969) was a former Tunisian police officer from Hammamlif.1 In the late 1990s, he traveled to Afghanistan and trained at camps operated by al-Qa’ida.2 Afterwards, Sassi reportedly fought alongside jihadi forces in Chechnya and the Balkans.3 He was also involved in a Milan-based logistical cell of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat [GSPC; Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat].4 Sassi later traveled to Algeria where he joined the group’s local fighters.5
In 2006, GSPC leaders ordered Sassi to set up jihadi cells in Tunisia to provide logistical assistance to the organization and launch attacks in the country. In April of that year, he and several associates crossed into Tunisia.6 By early December 2016, Sassi had attracted dozens of followers and set up the Soldiers of Asad Ibn al-Furat [JAIF; Jund al-Asad Ibn al-Furat].7 His outfit started training the recruits and began preparing attacks against diplomatic missions, a foreign-owned supermarket and hotels in Tunisia’s capital city.8
The JAIF was uncovered by the Tunisian authorities in late December 2016 following a shootout with a few of its members.9 Sassi and a significant number of his followers were killed in subsequent operations by security forces in and around the town of Soliman on Jan. 03, 2007.10 Weeks earlier, he was wrongfully reported to have died in a confrontation with police.11
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