Immediately after hearing of this, Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ordered the governor of Egypt, Handhala ibn Safwan al-Kalbi, to take control in Ifriqiya. In February 742, Handhala ibn Safwan reached Kairouan around April 742. Another threat rose when the two Berber rebel leaders Uqasha ibn Ayub al-Fezari and Abd al-Wahid ibn Yazid al-Hawwari agreed on a joint attack on Kairouan. Abd al-Wahid alone had a force of 300,000 troops.Ibn Khaldun (1857: p.363); Fournel (1857: p.79)
