Kulthum ibn Iyad, moving slower with the bulk of the forces, does not himself enter Kairouan, but merely dispatches a message assigning the government of the city to Abd al-Rahman ibn Oqba al-Ghaffari, the qadi (a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law) of Ifriqiya.

Collecting the Syrian vanguard, Kulthum hurries along to make junction with the remaining Ifriqiyan forces (some forty thousand) of Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri holding ground in the vicinity of Tlemcen.

The junction between the North African and Eastern forces does not go smoothly.

News of the Syrian misbehavior in Kairouan had reached the Ifriqiyan troops, while the Syrians, incensed at the poor reception, treat their Ifriqiyan counterparts in a high-handed fashion.

Habib and Balj bicker and the armies nearly come to blows.

By smooth diplomacy, Kulthum ibn Iyad manages hold the armies together, but the mutual resentments will play a role in subsequent events.

The Berber rebel army, under the leadership of Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati (perhaps jointly with a certain Salim Abu Yusuf al-Azdi, while boasting great numbers (some two hundred thousand), are very poorly equipped.

Many Berber fighters have nothing but stones and knives, dressed in a mere loin cloth, heads shaved in puritan fashion.

But they make up for this in knowledge of the terrain, excellent morale, and a fanatical Sufrite-inspired religious fervor.