Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula announces death of leader, SITE Group says

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced the death of its leader, Khalid Batarfi, on Sunday, the SITE Intelligence group said.

In a statement, AQAP did not give a cause of death, according to SITE. It named Sa’d bin ‘Atef al-Awlaki as his successor, the monitoring group added.

“Allah took his soul while he patiently sought his reward and stood firm … and waged jihad for his sake,” SITE quoted a group leader as saying.

Batarfi was named as AQAP’s leader in early 2020 after his predecessor, Qassim al-Raymi, was killed by the United States in what former president Donald Trump said was a counterterrorism operation in Yemen.

Read more: Reuters