AQAP announces death of leader Khalid Al-Batarfi

Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemeni, AQAP (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), announced yesterday the death of its leader Khalid Al-Batarfi, according to SITE Intelligence group. In its statement, AQAP did not give a cause of death, but named Sa’d Bin ‘Atef Al-Awlaki as Batarfi’s successor, the monitoring group explained.

SITE also said that a video was released by AQAP showing Al-Batarfi wrapped in a white burial shroud and the jihadist group’s black-and-white flag.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Khaled Batarfi has died in Yemen, terrorist media resources officially announced. The cause of death has not been disclosed. pic.twitter.com/V8qKz1rg6e

— M e d i a s e t * S * (@MediasetS1) March 10, 2024

“Allah took his soul while he patiently sought his reward and stood firm… and waged jihad for His sake,” SITE quoted an AQAP official as saying. The announcement was also notable in being made on the eve of the fasting month of Ramadan, which is starting for many Muslims today, including those in Yemen.

Al-Batarfi was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and travelled to Afghanistan in 1999 to fight alongside the Taliban during the US-led invasion. He went on to join AQAP in 2010, a year after its formation. In 2020, Al-Batarfi assumed the leadership of the group following the death of his predecessor, Qassim Al-Raymi, who was killed in a US drone strike in Yemen.

A $5 million bounty was placed on Al-Batarfi’s head by the US government for leading the group. A $6m bounty is currently on Al-Awlaki’s head, because he has “called publicly for attacks against the United States and its allies.”

According to SITE, new AQAP leader Al-Awlaki was last seen in a video released in February 2023, in which he urged Sunni tribesmen in the Yemeni governorates of Abyan and Shabwa to “resist overtures by the United Arab Emirates and the [separatist] Southern Transitional Council to join their fight against AQAP.”

A recent UN report on Al-Qaeda said that, “Although in decline, AQAP remains the most effective terrorist group in Yemen with intent to conduct operations in the region and beyond.”

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