
Wilayat Barqa is a radical Islamist terrorist group that was formed on 5 October 2014 as a merger of the Shura Council of Islamic Youth and other militant groups in Libya loyal to the Islamic State. Literally meaning "Province of Barka", Wilayat Barqa claims to be a province of ISIS.
History[]
Wilayat Barqa was a merger of Shura Council of Islamic Youth (SCIY) and other Islamist militant groups in Libya that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State during the Second Libyan Civil War, formed on 5 October 2014. Wilayat Barqa grew to have over 800 fighters, and they were based in the city of Derna, which was taken over by IS earlier that year. They were responsible for the 2015 Corinthia Hotel attack and also took part in the continuing battles for Derna and the takeover of Nofaliya on 9 February 2015. Led by Abu al-Baraa el-Azdi, Wilayat Barqa is the representative of ISIS in Libya's civil war.