ELIMINATED
- Full name: Houssem Ben Ezzedine Ben Khalifa Thelithi
- Pseudonym: Abou Youssef al-Qasrini, Abu Muslim
- Alternatives: Houssem Thelithi Mokni, Younes Abu Muslim
- Location: Tunisia
- Affiliation: Soldiers of the Caliphate in Tunisia [JaKI], fmr Brigade of Uqba Bin Nafa’a [KUIN]
Houssem Thelithi (°1992) was a jihadi from Tunisia’s Kasserine governorate who took part in the Islamist militancy plaguing his home country during the 2010s. He turned to radical Islamism in 2012 and joined the Brigade of Uqba Bin Nafa’a [KUIN; Katibat Uqba Ibn Nafaâ] in 2013.1 Thelithi allegedly participated in some of the group’s most prolific operations, including the Jul. 29, 2013 attack on an army unit on Mount Chaâmbi, the raid on the home of interior minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou in May 2014 and the Jul. 16, 2014 killing of fifteen soldiers on Mount Chaâmbi.2
Thelithi eventually left the KUIN and joined the Soldiers of the Caliphate in Tunisia [JaKI; Jund al-Khilafa fi-Ifriqiya]. Over the next years, he was linked to the killings of several shepherds and the November 2016 murder of a soldier near his home in the Kasserine governorate.3 Thelithi was also reported to have been planting landmines on Mount Mghila.4 He furthermore took part in at least two bank robberies in Kasserine.5
As Tunisian security forces were picking off the JaKI’s most senior chiefs, Thelithi rose through the ranks. He eventually became the leader of the outfit.6 His rise to prominence drew the attention of the authorities. They issued a public search announcement for him in October 2018 and included Thelithi in the list of terrorists whose bank accounts were frozen the following month.7 Soldiers eliminated him along with two associates in an operation near Mount Salloum on Mar. 19, 2019.8 In May 2019, he was eulogized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiy fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham].9 Following Thelithi’s death, investigators learned that he had been planning attacks on security forces, banks and a hotel in the governorates of Kasserine and Sidi Bouzid.10 Thelithi also wanted to assassinate two local politicians.11
References