The death of the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Khaled Batarfi, and the appointment of Saad Al-Awlaki as his successor, has brought to light the activity of the organization, which has witnessed a significant decline over the past years due to the disputes that have afflicted it.
On Sunday, the organization announced the death of Batarfi without providing reasons for this, according to a statement by the SITE Center, which monitors jihadist media.
However, tribal and local sources linked to the organization indicated to Agence France-Presse that Batarfi died from a malignant disease that he had been suffering from for a long time, and that his condition worsened after the death of the doctor who was supervising his treatment, called Abu Abdullah Al-Souri, known as Abu Abdullah Al-Suri. Al-Qaeda doctor.
The installation of Al-Awlaki, who is in his forties, as leader at the present time, represents an attempt to revive the organization and regroup its ranks, which were disturbed during the period of his predecessor.
A researcher in jihadist groups, Assem Al-Sabri, confirmed to Agence France-Presse that Al-Awlaki’s arrival to the leadership of Al-Qaeda in Yemen will “represent a major revival for the organization, which is suffering from a financial crisis, in addition to the outstanding disputes between the organization and many Yemeni tribes during the emirate of Khaled Batarfi.”
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was founded in 2009 by Osama bin Laden by merging the organization’s Saudi and Yemeni factions. It emerged during the chaos produced by the war in Yemen, at a time when the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels were fighting against the Saudi-led military coalition since 2015.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has long been viewed as the most dangerous branch of Al-Qaeda, and this organization claimed responsibility for the bloody attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in the French capital, Paris, in 2015, which resulted in the deaths of 12 people, according to “Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.”Voice of America“.
Therefore, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is considered one of the most important and dangerous arms of the main organization, but its activity declined significantly with Batarfi assuming leadership, succeeding Qasim al-Rimi, who was killed by an American strike in February 2020, which constituted a fatal blow to the organization.
The newly appointed Al-Awlaki, a member of the Al-Awalq tribe in Shabwa Governorate, is considered one of the prominent and active field leaders in the organization.
A reward of six million US dollars
Al-Awlaki is a member of the Shura Council of the organization and is on the list of “Rewards for Justice Program“The American, and the United States offered a reward of up to six million dollars to anyone who provides information about him.
Al-Awlaki publicly called for attacks on the United States and its allies, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.US State Department“.
Al-Sabri points out that Al-Awlaki, who is the most wanted by the US army, will work to resolve all these crises and end the organization’s disputes with the Yemeni tribes.
Regarding the organization’s external operations, Al-Sabri says, “Al-Qaeda is suffering from internal crises, which hinders the implementation of any external action, but we do not rule out that the organization will attempt to carry out operations in the West.”
Cross-cutting tribal and local sources confirm that Al-Awlaki, who was appointed at the behest of Batarfi, enjoys the support of most of the organization’s leaders and members, and that there is blessing from field and religious leaders for his appointment, and great optimism in his ability to reorganize the front after nearly two years of decline.
A tribal source told Agence France-Presse that “Al-Awlaki may exploit his relationships at the current stage to restore the organization’s tribal incubator, especially in Shabwa, which was a prominent stronghold and launching pad for the organization’s operations, and rebuild its strongholds that were destroyed by government forces in Shabwa and Abyan.”
On Sunday, two members of the Yemeni government forces were killed in an attack in the south of the country attributed to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, according to what a security source told Agence France-Presse, in the organization’s first attack following the appointment of Al-Awlaki.
A fellow researcher at the Middle East Forum, Ayman Jawad Al-Tamimi, told Agence France-Presse: “I notice that in the propaganda of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, most of the talk about operations these days revolves around fighting Yemeni groups supported by the UAE.”
ظهرت في الأصل على www.alhurra.com