Feared leader of Al Qaeda’s ‘most dangerous branch’ in Yemen dies under mysterious circumstances after US places $5 million bounty on his head

The feared leader of an al-Qaeda branch in Yemen, considered the jihadist network’s “most dangerous” faction, has been killed under mysterious circumstances.

Khalid al-Batarfi was labeled a ‘global terrorist’ and placed on a $5 million bounty by the US government for his role as leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

AQAP has long been considered the most threatening part of al-Qaeda after the killing of founder Osama bin Laden, although the group is believed to have been weakened by infighting and suspected US drone strikes killing its leaders.

Now, without disclosing his cause of death, Al-Qaeda has released a video showing Al-Batarfi’s top brass wrapped in a white shroud and covered with the terrorist organization’s black and white flag.

Making the announcement in a 15-minute video, al-Qaeda veteran Ibrahim al-Qosi gave no details about the cause of his death and no obvious sign of trauma was visible on his face.

Al-Batarfi, believed to be in his early 40s, was imprisoned before being released in a prison break in 2015 and ruled Yemen’s armed forces amid the country’s heavy war.

“Allah took his soul while he patiently sought his reward and remained steadfast, emigrating, garrisoning and waging jihad for His sake,” al-Qosi said in the video, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

The announcement was made on the eve of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims that Yemen begins today.

In the announcement, the group said Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki would take over.

The US has placed a $6 million bounty on him because al-Awlaki “has publicly called for attacks on the United States and its allies.”

The Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda is seen by Washington as the most dangerous branch of the terror network since the 2009 attempt to bomb a commercial airliner over the United States.

It claimed responsibility for the deadly 2015 attack in Paris on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. But their overseas activities have declined in recent years.

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

UN estimates put the total number of AQAP forces at between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members.

The group raises money by robbing banks and currency exchanges, as well as through weapons smuggling, currency counterfeiting and ransom operations, the UN said.

Al-Batarfi took over as head of the department in February 2020. He succeeded leader Qassim al-Rimi, who was killed by a US drone strike ordered by then-President Donald Trump.

Al-Rimi had claimed responsibility for the 2019 attack on the US Naval Air Station Pensacola, in which a Saudi aviation trainee killed three US sailors.

Under al-Batarfi, AQAP fell further under the influence of Saif al-Adl, who is now believed to have led the militant group after the assassination of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s second overall emir, in a US drone strike in Afghanistan. in 2022.

In recent years, Yemen has been embroiled in a war between the Houthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa, and a Saudi-led coalition supporting the government in exile in Aden.

‘Since 2020, Saif al-Adel has been able to convince al-Batarfi of his strategic approach, aimed at confronting Western states and their allies in Yemen – the Saudi-led coalition, the Aden-based government, the United Arab Emirates and her allies. allies – rather than confronting the Iran-backed Houthi movement,” according to a 2023 report from the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies.

Al-Adl is believed to be based in Iran and part of a long-standing al-Qaeda presence in the Islamic Republic.

That has long been denied by Tehran but is supported by documents seized during the 2011 US raid on Pakistan that killed bin Laden, who orchestrated the September 11 attacks on the US.

Al-Batarfi’s ties to al-Adl had strained relations within AQAP, experts say. However, it has left the militants armed with bomb-carrying drones – something the Houthis are now using to target shipping in the Red Sea amid the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

AQAP “developed unmanned aerial systems capabilities and established a specialized drone unit, with operational training from the Houthis,” says a January UN report.

“It prioritizes the liberation of its prisoners to replenish its ranks; in September, the Houthis released several AQAP members and explosives experts.”

The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni extremist group.

However, AQAP attacks on the Houthis have declined in recent years as the militants continue to attack Saudi-led coalition forces.

Yemen’s history and tribal structure have long led to rapidly shifting alliances, something the late strongman President Ali Abdullah Saleh called “dancing on the heads of snakes.”

Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Al-Batarfi traveled to Afghanistan in 1999 and fought alongside the Taliban during the US-led invasion.

He joined AQAP in 2010 and led forces in the takeover of Yemen’s Abyan province, according to the US.

In 2015, he was released after an AQAP attack in which the militants captured Mukalla, the capital of Yemen’s largest province, Hadramawt, amid the chaos of the war.

Photos at the time showed al-Awlaki holding a Kalashnikov rifle, posing in a government palace there.

AQAP was later expelled from Mukalla but has continued the attacks and has been the target of a US drone strike campaign since the administration of then-President George W. Bush.

In 2020, there were claims that al-Bartafi had been detained, but these were later denied.

In 2021, he appeared in a militant video and referred to the January 6 riot at the US Capitol as “just the tip of the iceberg of what will happen to them, God willing.”