Ansar al-Sharia is the Derna based branch of a larger Libyan group; the branch is headed by Abu Sufian bin Qumu.

[2] In 2011 bin Qumu became the leader of a band of fighters in his hometown of Derna during the 2011 Libyan civil war.

[3] The group was reported as disbanding itself following the U.S. Consulate attack in Benghazi[4] however by late 2013 the group had re-emerged in the city as a branch of the Benghazi-based Ansar al-Sharia under the slogan "A step toward building the Islamic state".

[5] In December 2014, Ansar al-Sharia joined the Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade and Jaysh al-Islami al-Libi in an umbrella organisation called the Majlis Shura al-Mujahidin Derna (Derna Mujahidin Consultative Council).

The group has been involved in fighting with the forces of General Khalifa Haftar in the Second Libyan Civil War.