Ansar al-Sharia in Libya was a Salafi Islamist militant group that took part in attacks against both Libyans and Americans, carrying out the 2012 Benghazi attack. With 5,000+ fighters, Ansar al-Sharia was formed in June 2012 during the Second Libyan Civil War and demanded the imposition of sharia law in Libya. The group destroyed Sufi shrines in Benghazi, and the group attacked foreigner and those opposed to secularism. Its leader Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured by the United States, and many of its members defected to the Islamic State; they once had control over Ajdabiya on the shore. On 27 May 2017, Ansar al-Sharia announced that it was dissolving after its leadership was wiped out and its fighters decimated. In its statement of dissolution, Ansar al-Sharia called on shura councils and revolutionary forces to form a united front.
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