An al-Qaeda branch announced the death of its leader

Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen announced the death of its leader Khalid Batrafi on Sunday, without disclosing the reasons, citing an American center to monitor Islamic sites SITE. According to the latter, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqpa) broadcast images of its leader’s funeral, the body draped in a flag bearing the name of the jihadist organization. “God took away his soul when he patiently sought his reward and (…) waged jihad”

An Aqpa fighter said in a nearly 15-minute video aired by SITE.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, born in 2009 from the merger of al-Qaeda’s Yemeni and Saudi factions, is considered by Washington to be the most dangerous branch of the Sunni Muslim extremist network. The organization announced in February 2020 that it had appointed Khalid Batrafi, aged in his forties, as its head following the death of his predecessor Qasim al-Rimi, who was killed by an American strike in Yemen. Batafi has been considered an international terrorist by the US since 2018.

According to SITE, Akpa has appointed Saad bin Atef al-Awlaki as its new leader. The man was last seen in a video in February 2023 where he called on Sunni tribesmen to join the organization. AQAP has escalated the chaos caused by the civil war that has ravaged Yemen since 2014 between the Yemeni government backed by Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels backed by Iran. Its attacks in Yemen have targeted both rebels and government forces.