 Al-Barghathi was born in Benghazi and fought in the Libyan Civil War against the forces of Muammar Qaddafi, being among the first officers to join the rebels.In 2014 he joined General Khalifa Haftar's Operation Dignity against the Islamists in the General National Congress and commanded the 204 Tank Brigade.He reportedly became a popular officer in the Libyan armed forces for personally fighting on the front line with the troops.