Sanaa, March 10, 2024 (Xinhua) – Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in Yemen, announced today (Sunday) the death of its leader Khaled Batarfi, and the appointment of Saad bin Atef Al-Awlaki as his successor.
Al-Qaeda leader Khabib Al-Sudani said in a video statement broadcast by Al-Malahim Media Foundation, the organization’s mouthpiece, “We in Al-Qaeda’s Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula organization mourn with great sadness the loss of the mujahid Khaled Batarfi, the leader of the organization who died as a marabout and mujahideen.”
Before assuming the leadership of the organization, Batarfi took over the “emirates of Abyan and Hadramaut,” and was a spokesman for Al-Qaeda, and he supervised the media committee and the judiciary committee.
Batarfi took over the leadership of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, succeeding Qasim Al-Rimi.
In February 2020, the United States of America announced the launch of an anti-terrorism operation in Yemen, which resulted in the killing of the founder and leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Qasim al-Rimi.
Al-Sudani indicated in his statement that the Shura Council of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula met and approved the appointment of Saad bin Atef Al-Awlaki as Emir of the organization to succeed Batarfi.
Al-Awlaki is a prominent leader in the organization and hails from Shabwa Governorate, eastern Yemen.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is based in Yemen, and its activities have grown in large areas of Yemen, taking advantage of the security deterioration as a result of the ongoing conflict between the Yemeni government and the Houthi group for more than nine years.
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