Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula announced on Sunday the death of its leader, Khalid al-Batifi, without providing reasons for his death. The organization stated that Saad bin Atif al-Awlaki is the new leader, with the group based in Yemen, according to a statement from the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist media. Al-Batifi took over the leadership of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in early 2020 after the death of his predecessor, Qasim al-Rimi, in a U.S. drone strike, which former U.S. President Donald Trump described as an anti-terrorism operation in Yemen.
Al-Batifi was a Saudi born in Riyadh in the early 1980s and prior to leading the organization, he served as a Sharia judge and official spokesperson for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The United States designated him as a "global terrorist" in 2018 and offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture. Al-Batifi was one of 150 members of the group who were released when the organization seized the coastal city of Mukalla in Yemen in 2015, where he was being held.
His successor, al-Awlaki, is a Yemeni known as Saad Mohammed Atif, a member of the organization's Shura Council and listed under the U.S. "Rewards for Justice" program. The United States has offered a reward of up to $6 million for information leading to him. According to SITE, al-Awlaki was last seen in a video released in February 2023, where he urged Sunni tribesmen in the Yemeni provinces of Abyan and Shabwa to resist UAE initiatives and the Southern Transitional Council's efforts to join the fight against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The U.S. State Department noted that al-Awlaki "has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies." The United States considers Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be one of the most dangerous branches of Al-Qaeda founded by Osama bin Laden. The organization has claimed several attacks, notably the assault on the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" in Paris in 2015, which resulted in the deaths of 12 people. Furthermore, the group continues to carry out attacks targeting Yemeni soldiers, including a significant attack in September that killed four soldiers in Shabwa province in southeastern Yemen.
