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Khalid Batarfi

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Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda member (died 2024)

Khalid Saeed Batarfi
خالد سعيد باطرفي
Batarfi appearing in an AQAP video
BornBetween 1978 and 1980
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
DiedMarch 2024 (aged 43–46)
Yemen
NationalitySaudi Arabian
Other namesAbū al-Miqdād al-Kindī, Abū al-Miqdād al-Kanadī
Known forEmir of AQAP
Military career
Allegiance AQAP
(2010–2024)
Years of service2010–2024
RankSupreme commander (Emir) of Abyan
(2010–2011)

Field commander in Hadramaut
(2015–2020)

Emir of AQAP
(2020–2024)
Battles / warsYemen Insurgency

Yemeni Civil War

Khalid Saeed Batarfi (Arabic: خالد سعيد باطرفي, romanized: Khālid Saʿīd Bāṭarfī; 1978 to 1980 – March 2024), also known as Abū al-Miqdād al-Kindī (Arabic: أبو المقداد الكِنْدِي), was a Saudi Arabian militant and the emir of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He oversaw the Yemen-based group's media network and led jihadist fighters in their takeover of Yemen's Abyan Governorate in 2011, where he was accorded the position of emir. He also reputedly carried out terrorist attacks in the Abyan and Hadhramaut governorates.

On 17 March 2011, Batarfi was captured by security forces in the Taiz Governorate. For four years, he was imprisoned in Mukalla. He was freed, along with about 300 other inmates, by al-Qaeda fighters on 2 April 2015, during the Battle of Mukalla. The Washington Post compared the Mukalla prison break to the escape of 23 fighters, including future AQAP emir Nasir al-Wuhayshi, from a Yemeni prison in 2006, a formative event for the group.

Batarfi attracted media attention when he posed for photographs taken by al-Qaeda members in the Hadhramaut governor's palace, which fighters took over.

Batarfi was promoted to leader after the death of Qasim al-Raymi in January 2020. In February 2021, the United Nations claimed that Batarfi was arrested during a security operation in Al Ghaydah in October 2020. However, Batarfi later appeared in a video discussing the 6 January 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The U.S. Rewards for Justice Program offered up to $5 million in exchange for information leading to Batarfi's apprehension.

AQAP announced Batarfi's death on 10 March 2024 and named Sa'ad bin Atef al-Awlaki as his successor. It did not give a cause of death for Batarfi.

References

  1. ^ "Khalid Saeed al-Batarfi". Rewards for Justice. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018.
  2. "Counter Terrorism Designations". United States Department of the Treasury. 23 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018.
  3. Fighting Back: What Governments Can Do About Terrorism edited by Paul Shemella
  4. ^ "Officials: Al Qaeda fighters free 270 from Yemeni prison". CNN. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Three militants, three soldiers killed in Yemen". CNN. 17 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  6. "Amid Yemen chaos, al Qaeda stages prison break". CBS News. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  7. ^ Spencer, Richard (4 April 2015). "The al-Qaeda commander at home in a governor's palace". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  8. Bacchi, Umberto (2 April 2015). "Yemen: Al-Qaeda frees 300 in al-Mukalla prison attack". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  9. Miller, Greg (5 April 2015). "Al-Qaeda franchise in Yemen exploits chaos to rebuild, officials say". Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  10. Bacchi, Umberto (4 April 2015). "Yemen: Al-Qaeda operative Khalid Batarfi takes selfies inside Mukalla government". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  11. "AQAP confirms death of leader, appoints successor: SITE". Yahoo!. 23 February 2020. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  12. "Al Qaeda's leader in Yemen under arrest, UN report reveals". CNN. 4 February 2021. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  13. "AQAP leader cites U.S. Capitol riot as evidence of America's supposed decline | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. 10 February 2021. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  14. "Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula announces death of leader, SITE Group says". Retrieved 5 April 2024.
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