Ahmed Ben Aoun (Jihadi Militant, Tunisia)

• Full name: Ahmed Ben Aoun
• Pseudonym: N/a
• Alternatives: N/a
• Location: Tunisia
• Affiliation: Partisans of Shari’a in Tunisia [AST]

Ahmed Ben Aoun is Tunisian former university professor who joined the Partisans of Shari’a in Tunisia [AST; Ansar Achariaâ] following the 2011 revolution.¹ Within the movement, he was initially involved in proselytization. Ben Aoun later became part of the AST’s covert armed wing. He was responsible for collecting intelligence on journalists and politicians.² In that capacity, Ben Aoun was linked to the assassination of socialist leader Chokri Belaïd.³ He was arrested in the summer of 2013 as the Tunisian government began clamping down on the AST.⁴ On Dec. 27, 2016, Ben Aoun was released from jail.⁵ His current status and whereabouts are unknown.