Hesham Ashmawy

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Hesham Ashmawy
Ashmawy appearing in a propaganda video by al-Mourabitoun,[1] a Libya-based militant group which he led from Derna. His nom de guerre, "Abu Omar al-Muhajir", appears below.
Native name
هشام علي عشماوي مسعد إبراهيم
Birth nameHesham Ali Ashmawy Mos'ad Ibrahim
Born1978
Died4 March 2020(2020-03-04) (aged 41–42)
Allegiance Egypt (1996–2011)
Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (2013–2014)
Al-Mourabitoun (2015–2018)

Hesham Ali Ashmawy Mos'ad Ibrahim (

Arabic: هشام علي عشماوي مسعد إبراهيم;‎ 1978 – 4 March 2020) was a convicted terrorist who previously was an Egyptian Army officer, suspected by the government of having orchestrated and been involved in a number of terrorist attacks on security targets and state institutions, including the 2014 Farafra ambush and the 2015 assassination of Prosecutor general Hisham Barakat.[2]

Ashmawy joined the military in 1996 and eventually became an officer in the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
. He formed instead his own network, al-Mourabitoun, which based itself in Libya and remained loyal to al-Qaeda.

He became one of Egypt's most wanted militants, before being arrested on 8 October 2018, during a

counter-insurgency operation by the Libyan National Army in Derna. On 28 May 2019, Ashmawy was handed over to the Egyptian authorities.[3] He was executed on 4 March 2020.[4]
Kos om Hesham Ashmawy

Early life and military career

Ashmawy was born in 1978.[5] His father, Ali Ashmawy, was a French language teacher, and his mother, Ghalia Ali Abdelmegid, worked in a school.[6] Little information exists about his life prior to joining the Egyptian Armed Forces, though he was known by family and friends to be an association football enthusiast.[5] In 2003, Lieutenant Ashmawy married Nesreen Sayed Ali, a former senior year student in Abdelmegid's school who became a teaching assistant at Ain Shams University.[6] They had two sons and lived in a building that was built by his father in the 10th District of Nasr City, Cairo.[7]

He entered the

Thunderbolt unit. He trained in camouflage and combat readiness in challenging terrain.[8] Ashmawy was deployed to the Sinai Peninsula for 10 years, during which the 2005 Sharm el-Sheikh and 2006 Dahab bombings took place.[9]

Radicalization and dismissal

Ashmawy started showing signs of extremism in 2000, when he argued with a military-assigned preacher who accidentally misread

Ibn Taymiyyah.[6] He prayed more frequently and visited mosques during leaves.[7]

He was interrogated for the first time in 2006,

Popular Defense Forces branch of the Egyptian military. The exact dates and circumstances under which Ashmawy left the military are conflicting.[7] A military court hearing in 2011 decided that he should be formally dismissed from the Armed Forces.[5]

Militancy

Ashmawy travelled to Turkey in April 2013 and then crossed into the Syrian border and had a meeting with ISIS commanders. He regularly visited the al-Anwar al-Muhamadiyya Mosque in Cairo's Matareya district between 2010 and 2012. Meetings between him and "extremist elements" became frequent after he left the military, according to an October 2015 episode about Ashmawy on Death Making, an Al Arabiya program. During that time, he started embracing Islamic militancy as an ideology, particularly the al-Qaeda brand.[7] Ashmawy managed to form a militant cell with four other suspended officers following his 2011 dismissal, and later joined Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (ABM) in 2013 and gradually rose in the group's ranks.[5] The Ministry of Interior also traced down a trip that he made to Turkey on 27 April 2013, and then later across the border into Syria,[10] where he is suspected by authorities to have fought alongside al-Nusra Front.[13]

Ashmawy's name appeared in the media for the first time in September 2013, as one of the prime suspects in the attempted assassination of interior minister

Wilayat Sinai.[15] ABM, both in Sinai and in the mainland, had consequently split between members loyal to ISIL and some others linked to al-Qaeda.[17] Ashmawy's mainland operations were gradually taken over by Wilayat Sinai commander Ashraf al-Gharably.[18]

Al-Mourabitoun

His name resurfaced in the media as a suspect in the assassination of Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat in July 2015.[5] He announced in a video that same month the formation of a network named al-Mourabitoun which would remain loyal to al-Qaeda rather than ISIL,[19] to which the latter responded later on by referring to Ashmawy as an "apostate" and issuing a bounty on his life.[7] Ashmawy's al-Mourabitoun based itself in Libya and developed close ties with the local Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna.[20] During the same video announcement, he encouraged Muslims to wage global jihad and denounced Egypt's government and its president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.[1] Ashmawy's tactics differed from those of ISIL. The latter would often employ suicide bombing as a method, while the former favored car bombings and did not claim responsibility for his attacks. ISIL also tends to focus on territorial expansion while Ashmawy emphasized guerrilla warfare.[7] Zack Gold, an analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses, described him as "a boogeyman for the Egyptian army."[21] Ashmawy released a second statement in March 2016 in the form of an audio communique accompanied by image slides that included a photo of him in military uniform and a panorama of Jerusalem with the words "O Aqsa, we are coming" appearing on the screen. In the message, Ashmawy called on Egyptian ulama and clerics to rally Muslim youth and encourage them "to expel the invaders from the abode of Islam and wage jihad against the criminal el-Sisi, his soldiers, and supporters."[22]

Ashmawy gave himself the

2015 Italian Consulate bombing, the Minya bus attack and the Bahariya attack, among others.[28] "Every major attack, he either has been behind it or has been blamed for it," according to Gold.[25] He became one of Egypt's most wanted militants prior to his arrest.[29]

Arrest and death

On 8 October 2018, Ahmed al-Mismari, spokesman of the Libyan National Army (LNA), announced the capturing of Ashmawy during a surprise operation by a unit of the 106th Mujahfal Brigade in the mountainous al-Maghar district of Derna. Other militants were also captured, as well as the family of Omar Sorour, al-Mourabitoun's mufti who was killed earlier in June. They were later taken to a barracks in the port city.[30]

Nasser Ahmed al-Najdi, commander of the LNA's Battalion 169, told

Libyan Civil War, believed that Ashmawy was using that network to move around between cities in the region.[33] According to Najdi, "not a single bullet was fired" during the "successful" operation,[31] which was carried out moments after Ashmawy was spotted trying to leave al-Maghar.[34]

The Libyan authorities said in their statement that Ashmawy would be extradited to Egypt following investigations.[29] The LNA also released video footage from the raid's aftermath showing Ashmawy being escorted to an armored vehicle, as well as photos of his bloodied face.[35] An earlier statement added that he was wearing an explosive belt that failed to detonate when the troops closed in on him.[29] Different teams of Egyptian investigators began arriving in Libya later that day to jointly interrogate Ashmawy with the Libyan authorities.[36] Mismari announced on 1 November that Ashmawy was being tried by a military court in eastern Libya, along with over 200 defendants. He added that Ashmawy took part in the fighting against the LNA in Derna and orchestrated attacks and assassinations of several Libyan officers.[37] On 28 May 2019, Ashmawy was extradited by the Libyan national army to Egyptian authorities.[38]

On March 4, 2020, Ashmawy's death sentence was carried out.[39][40]

References

  1. ^ a b Joscelyn, Thomas; Weiss, Caleb (23 July 2015). "Former Egyptian special forces officer leads Al Murabitoon". Long War Journal. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  2. ^ Ahmed, Haithem; Mourad, Mahmoud; Lewis, Aidan (4 March 2020). Maclean, William (ed.). "Egypt executes top militant extradited from Libya". Reuters. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Terrorist Ashmawy along with another militant transferred to Egypt". Egypt Today. 29 May 2019.
  4. ^ "Egypt executes top militant extradited from Libya". Reuters. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Mustafa, Nourhan (9 October 2018). "من هو هشام عشماوي؟.. قصة ضابط مفصول تحول لإرهابي خطير" [Who is Hesham Ashmawy?.. Story of a suspended officer who became a dangerous terrorist]. Al Masry al-Youm. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d Salah Eddin, Maha; Milad, Marina (18 November 2017). "من ضابط إلى "أخطر إرهابي مطلوب".. "مصراوي" يتتبع خطوات هشام عشماوي" [From officer to "most wanted terrorist".. Masrawy tracks Hesham Ashmawy's life steps]. Masrawy. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Hisham al-Ashmawy: military man turned jihadist". Al Arabiya. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d Hassan, Ahmed (16 October 2015). "One of us: the militant Egypt's army fears most". Reuters. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  9. ^ a b ""صناعة الموت".. برنامج على "العربية" حذر من "عشماوي" قبل عامين" ["Death Making".. a program on Al Arabiya warned us about Hesham Ashmawy two years ago]. El Watan. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  10. ^ a b Al-Zoghby, Salwa (20 October 2017). "من هو هشام عشماوي الذي يُرَجح تورط مجموعته في "معركة الواحات"؟" [Who is Hesham Ashmawy whose group is suspected of involvement in the "battle of Wahat"?]. El Watan. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  11. ^ "هشام عشماوي.. ضابط الصاعقة الذي تحول إلى "أخطر إرهابي مصري"" [Hesham Ashmawy.. former Sa'ka officer who became the "most dangerous Egyptian terrorist"]. Sky News Arabia. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  12. ^ "سقوط "هشام عشماوي" وضرب الإرهاب أهم عناوين صحف الثلاثاء" [Fall of Hesham Ashmawy and anti-terror strike among top headlines this Tuesday]. Masrawy. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  13. ^ Said, Omar (9 October 2018). "The fall of Hesham Ashmawy: A journey that began in Egypt and ended in Libya". Mada Masr. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  14. ^ Al-Desouki, Fatma; Fouad, Mahmoud (8 October 2018). "سقوط هشام عشماوى الأب الروحى للجماعات المتطرفة" [Fall of Hesham Ashmawy, the godfather of extremist organizations]. Al-Ahram. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  15. ^ a b Ashour, Omar (2016). "ISIS and Wilayat Sinai: Complex Networks of Insurgency under Authoritarian Rule". DGAP kompakt. 15. Forschungsinstitut der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  16. ^ Stewart, Scott (29 June 2016). "Assessing the Jihadist Threat in Egypt: The Sinai Peninsula". Stratfor. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  17. ^ "Assessing the Jihadist Threat in Egypt: Mainland Egypt". Stratfor. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  18. ^ Awad, Mokhtar (2016). "The Islamic State's Pyramid Scheme: Egyptian Expansion and the Giza Governorate Cell". Combating Terrorism Center Sentinel. 9 (4).
  19. ^ "بعد القبض عليه.. تعرف على تنظيم "المرابطون" الذي أسسه هشام عشماوي" [Following his arrest.. meet the Al-Murabitun network formed by Hesham Ashmawy]. El Watan. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  20. ^ Al-Arabi, Mohamed (13 February 2018). "فيديو يكشف علاقة إرهابيي درنة بمطلوبين لمصر" [Video reveals ties between Derna's terrorists and Egypt wanted militants]. Al Arabiya. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  21. ^ Malsin, Jared (8 October 2018). "Libyan Forces Detain Former Egyptian Army Commander Wanted in Attacks". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  22. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (11 March 2016). "Former Egyptian special forces officer calls on scholars to support al Qaeda's jihad". Long War Journal. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  23. ^ "هشام عشماوي: ضابط صاعقة سابق وأخطر المطلوبين لمصر" [Hesham Ashmawy: Former Sa'ka officer and one of Egypt's most wanted]. BBC Arabic. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  24. ^ Lotfi, Fatma (14 October 2018). "Militants still in Derna: Al-Ashmawy during investigations". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  25. ^ a b Raghavan, Sudarsan (14 March 2018). "Militant threat emerges in Egyptian desert, opening new front in terrorism fight". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  26. ^ Cummings, Ryan (28 November 2017). "What Is Ansar al-Islam?". Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  27. ^ Mohamed, Farag (6 November 2018). "حيثيات إعدام عشماوي فى "أنصار بيت المقدس 3": المتهمون نصبوا أنفسهم أوصياء على الأمة الإسلامية" [Preambles to Ashmawy's death sentence as part of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis 3: The defendants set themselves as guardians of the Islamic nation]. Al-Shorouk. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  28. ^ "أخطر إرهابي مصري.. 17 قضية تنتظر عشماوي" [Most dangerous Egyptian terrorist.. 17 cases await Ashmawy]. Sky News Arabia. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  29. ^ a b c "Libyan forces capture Egyptian jihadist Hisham Ashmawi". BBC. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  30. ^ Eleiba, Ahmed (10 October 2018). "Notorious Egyptian terrorist Ashmawi's arrest in Libya a blow to terrorism". Ahram Online. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  31. ^ a b Mahmoud, Khalid (11 October 2018). "Libyan Security Official to Asharq Al-Awsat: Ashmawi Appeared Confused at Time of Arrest". Asharq Al-Awsat. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  32. ^ "Libyan army renew calls for Derna terrorists to turn themselves in". Egypt Today. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  33. ^ "Egyptian officials confirm arrest of terrorist Hisham El-Ashmawy in Libya". Ahram Online. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  34. ^ Qasim, Mohamed (12 October 2018). ""كان هيفجر نفسه".. فيديو جديد للحظة القبض على "عشماوي" في لبيبا" ["He was going to blow himself up".. new video showing the moment Ashmawy was captured in Libya]. Masrawy. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  35. ^ "WATCH: The moment Egypt's 'most wanted terrorist' was arrested in Libya". Al Arabiya. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  36. ^ Hendawi, Hamza (9 October 2018). "Egyptian investigators in Libya to question wanted militant". AP via Star Tribune. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  37. ^ Hatita, Abdul Sattar (1 November 2018). "القضاء العسكري شرق ليبيا يبدأ محاكمة عشرات الإرهابيين بينهم عشماوي". Asharq Al-Awsat. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  38. ^ Hashmi, Faizan (29 May 2019). "Libyan National Army Hands Over Most Wanted Egyptian Terrorist To Cairo - Reports". UrduPoint. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  39. ^ Agence France-Presse (4 March 2020). "Egypt hangs ex-elite soldier turned Islamist militant Ashmawy". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  40. ^ Gamal, Mahmoud [@mahmouedgamal44] (22 May 2020). ""Graphic content" Real photos during the execution of Terrorist Hisham Ashmawi #الاختيار" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 22 May 2020 – via Twitter.
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