Khalid Saeed Batarfi ( ar, خالد سعيد باطرفي, Khālid Saʿīd Bāṭarfī), also known as Abū al-Miqdād al-Kindī ( ar, أبو المقداد الكِنْدِي), is a Saudi Arabian militant and the current emir of

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب, Tanẓīm al-Qā‘idah fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, lit=Organization of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula or , ''Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jaz� ...

. He oversaw the

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

-based group's media network and led

jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with G ...

ist fighters in their

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...

of Yemen's

Abyan Governorate Abyan ( ar, أَبْيَن ) is a governorate of Yemen. The Abyan region was historically part of the Fadhli Sultanate. It was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army militant group. Its capital is the city of Zinjibar. This governorate is no ...

in 2011, where he was accorded the position of

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

. He also reputedly carried out terrorist attacks in the Abyan and

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Saud ...

governorates. On 17 March 2011, Batarfi was captured by security forces in the

Taiz Governorate Taiz ( ar, تَعِزّ, Taʿizz) is a governorates of Yemen, governorate of Yemen. The governorate's capital is Taiz, which is the third largest city in Yemen. Today it is the most important commercial centre in Yemen owing to its proximity to t ...

. For four years, he was imprisoned in

Mukalla Mukalla ( ar, ٱلْمُكَلَّا, ') is a seaport and the capital city of Yemen's largest governorate, Hadhramaut. The city is in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Aden, on the shores of the Arabian Sea, about east of ...

. 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 ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' compared the Mukalla prison break to the escape of 23 fighters, including future AQAP emir

Nasir al-Wuhayshi Nasir Abdel Karim al-Wuhayshi ( ar, ناصر عبد الكريم الوحيشي'; also transliterated as Naser al-Wahishi, Nasser al-Wuhayshi) alias Abu Basir, (1 October 1976 – 12 June 2015) was a Yemeni Islamist, who served as the leader o ...

, 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

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 UN claimed that Batarfi was arrested during a security operation in

Al Ghaydah Al Ghaydah ( ar, الغيضة) is the capital city of Al Mahrah Governorate in south-eastern Yemen. Transport The city is served by Al Ghaydah Airport. Climate Al Ghaydah has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification The Köppen ...

in October 2020. However, Batarfi later appeared in a video discussing the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The U.S.

Rewards for Justice Program The Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is the counterterrorism and counterintelligence platform administered by the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service agency. The Rewards For Justice program is seeking information leading to th ...

is offering up to $5 million in exchange for information leading to Batarfi's apprehension.

References

Al-Qaeda leaders Living people 1970s births Saudi Arabian people of Yemeni descent Saudi Arabian al-Qaeda members Leaders of Islamic terror groups People from Abyan Governorate Escapees from Yemeni detention Fugitives People imprisoned on charges of terrorism Yemeni al-Qaeda members Yemeni escapees {{terrorism-bio-stub

See also

References