The branch of Al-Qaeda in Yemen announced on Sunday March 10 the death of its leader, Khalid Batarfi, without revealing the causes. noted the American center for monitoring Islamist sites SITE. According to the latter, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) broadcast images of the funeral of its leader, the body wrapped in a flag bearing the name of the jihadist organization.
“God took away his soul while he patiently sought his reward and (…) waged jihad”said an AQAP fighter in the nearly fifteen-minute video broadcast by SITE.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, born in 2009 from the merger of the Yemeni and Saudi factions of Al-Qaeda, is considered by Washington as the most dangerous branch of the Sunni extremist network. The organization announced in February 2020 that it had appointed Khalid Batarfi, aged around 40, as its head, after the death of his predecessor Qassim Al-Rimi, killed by an American strike in Yemen. Batarfi has been considered an international terrorist by the United States since 2018.
Saad Bin Atef Al-Awlaki appointed as new leader
According to SITE, AQAP has appointed Saad Bin Atef Al-Awlaki as its new leader. This man last appeared in February 2023 in a video where he called on Sunni tribesmen to join the organization, according to SITE.
AQAP grew in the chaos caused by the civil war that has ravaged Yemen since 2014, between the Yemeni government supported by Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels supported by Iran. Its attacks in Yemen have targeted both rebels and government forces.