Sensing his time had come to settle scores with Gadhafi, Hifter arrived back in eastern Libya in March 2011 and played a role in leading the rebels fighting the regime under NATO air cover.
After the regime was toppled, Hifter faded into obscurity again, only to surface in October 2012 for a brief time when the new government decided to invade Bani Walid, a town southwest of Tripoli accused of harboring former regime officials. There are no confirmed reports of him taking part in actual fighting.
Hifter disappeared again until February 2014, when he suddenly appeared on TV, making a statement resembling an announcement by a military leader taking over power. In the announcement, he launched "Operation Dignity" against Islamist militias in Benghazi; however, no one took Hifter seriously at the time since he had neither an official military role nor a loyal militia to fight with him. It turned out that he was still preparing his military capabilities.
Hifter again disappeared from the scene, spending the next few months moving between al-Marj and Benghazi and trying to organize former military officers into a fighting force, counting on old loyalties among the remnants of the Libyan army and his tribal connections. He managed to cultivate political support within the internally recognized government based in Tobruk, which named him chief of staff of its infant army in March 2015.
