al-Taliah al-Salafiyah al-Mujahediyah Ansar al-Sharia (the "Fighting Salafist Vanguard – Partisans of Islamic Law"), better known as Ansar al-Sharia, is a militant jihadist group in Egypt that was founded in November 2012. Following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, many imprisoned Islamists were released from prison as restraints on free speech were eased, allowing radical followers of Salafist jihadism to resume their activities, garner support, and recruit followers. Afghan Mujahideen veteran and Vanguards of Conquest leader Ahmed Ashush, who had been imprisoned from 1993 to 2011, founded Ansar al-Sharia in 2012 as an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in Sinai Peninsula. Following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat, all of the key members of Ansar al-Sharia were arrested, joined Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, or fled to Syria to take part in the Syrian Civil War. The group was refounded as the "Brigades of Ansar al Sharia in the Land of Egypt" in 2014.