Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya  The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is a militant Islamist group active in Libya under three branches: Fezzan Province (, "Wilayah Fizan") in the desert south, Cyrenaica Province (, "Wilayah Barqah") in the east, and Tripolitania Province (, "Wilayah Tarabulus") in the west. The branches were formed on 13 November 2014, following pledges of allegiance to ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by militants in Libya. Following the 2011 Libyan Civil War, which resulted in the ousting of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his government, many rebel fighters went to Syria to fight alongside militant groups who were fighting Bashar al-Assad and his loyalists in the Syrian Civil War. In 2012, one group of Libyans fighting in Syria declared the establishment of the "Battar Brigade". The Battar Brigade would later pledge loyalty to ISIL, and fight for it in both Syria and Iraq. In early 2014, up to 300 Battar Brigade veterans returned to Libya. In Derna, they formed a new faction called the "Islamic Youth Shura Council", which began recruiting militants from other local groups. Among the those who joined were many members of the Derna branch of Ansar al-Sharia. During the next few months, they declared war on anyone in Derna who opposed them, killing judges, civic leaders and other opponents, including local militants who rejected their authority such as the al-Qaeda-allied Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade. In September 2014, an ISIL delegation that had been dispatched by the group's leadership arrived in Libya. The representatives included Abu Nabil al Anbari, a senior aide to al-Baghdadi and a veteran of the Iraq conflict, the Saudi Abu Habib al-Jazrawi, and the Yemeni or Saudi Abu al-Baraa el-Azdi, a militant and preacher from Syria. On 5 October 2014, the Islamic Youth Shura Council-aligned militant factions came together and pledged allegiance to ISIL. After the pledging ceremony, more than 60 pickup trucks filled with fighters cruised through the city in a victory parade. A second more formal gathering involving a larger array of factions took place on 30 October 2014, where the militants gathered to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the city square. On 13 November 2014, al-Baghdadi released an audio recording in which he accepted pledges of allegiance from supporters in five countries, including Libya, and announced the expansion of his group to those territories.