| Country: | Libya |
| Details of Formation: | This PGM was created after 2000, recreating the idea of the Islamic Legion, a pan-Arab force that had been established 1972 and which had been active in other African countries. |
| Details of Termination: | The Islamic Pan African Brigade was loyal to Gaddafi; it is therefore coded as terminated when the National Transitional Council took over the government on 23 August 2011. |
| Purpose: | Gaddafi used the Islamic Pan African Brigade to fight protesters and rebels during the Arab Spring. It might be a lower-structure element of Gaddafi’s strategic paramilitary force designed to check the army and subdue the population. |
| Organisation: | The foreign mercenaries that are member of the Islamic Pan African Brigade are “shipped in” by the Libyan authorities. |
| Weapons and Training: | Members are armed with machine guns, high-velocity sniper rifles and anti-aircraft missiles. |
| Size: | A news source from February 2011 estimates the group has about 2,500 mercenaries; while a news source from March 2011 estimates that there are between 3,000 to 4,000 foreign mercenaries. |
| Reason for Membership: | Members were sub-Saharan Africans who had come to Libya in order to find work or who came as refugees. There were also Touareg members, which had been recruited in a similar situation in the 1970s and 1980s, serving then in the previous Islamic Pan African Brigade/Islamic Legion. They were later integrated into the Libyan army and used again from the 2000s on as members of the new Islamic Pan African Brigade. Members were paid up to 20,000 pound per head or 1,000$ a day. |
| Treatment of Civilians: | The Islamic Pan African Brigade killed protesters, including women and children. Gunning down protesters was their purpose as given by Gaddafi. |
| Other Information: | Members of this group were mainly foreigners. |
| References: | Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD. |