Al-Qaeda's new leader in Yemen threatens America
English - Sunday 22 March 2020 الساعة 09:12 am
Aden, Newsyemen:
The leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Khalid bin Omar Batarfi, announced on Friday his pledge of allegiance to the leader of the organization, Ayman Al-Dhawahiri, vowing to Washington that his organization would be a "nightmare that annoys Americans."
This came in the first appearance of the Batarfi (Saudi national), who was installed to succeed "Qasim Al-Rimi", who was assassinated in a US raid early February in the governorate of Marib (central Yemen).
Batarfi said, in a video recorded by the Al-Malahim Foundation (the media arm of the organization): "We say to the Americans: We will only be a nightmare in which God spends your bed, and when God burns your hearts and bodies."
Al-Dhawahiri added: "I pledge allegiance to you to listen and obedience in hardship, ease, stimulant and coercion, and that I do not dispute the matter with his family."
In January 2017, the US State Department put Khalid Batarfi on the list of "global terrorists", banning his assets and property in the United States, and preventing Americans from dealing with him.
On February 6, US President Donald Trump announced the killing of al-Rimi during a "counter-terrorism" operation in Yemen, which the organization later approved.
"Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" is based in Yemen, but its influence has declined in the recent period due to the strikes it has received, whether from the United States or by the efforts of local forces supported by the UAE and the Arab coalition to confront militant organizations or because of the rise of the Islamic State star in recent years.
The organization had claimed responsibility for gunfire in December at a US naval base in Florida that killed three sailors by a Saudi officer, according to the SITE Center.
The United States considers Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, the most dangerous branch of Al Qaeda.
Under al-Rimi's leadership, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has strengthened its influence in south and southeastern Yemen, taking advantage of the chaos resulting from the war between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia.
