AQAP’s Newest Voice: The Sudden Ascendency of Senior Leader Khalid Saeed Batarfi

AQAP’s Newest Voice: The Sudden Ascendency of Senior Leader Khalid Saeed Batarfi

In a further indication of how al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is increasingly managing to exploit and take advantage from the current Yemeni political crisis and security vacuum, on April 2, the group’s militants launched a concerted assault on the city of al-Mukalla in eastern Hadramawt province. They looted and seized government buildings, banks and army posts (Barakish, April 2; al-Masdar Online, April 2; al-Watanye, April 2). Most importantly, AQAP stormed al-Mukalla Central Prison, freeing approximately 300 inmates, half of whom were former members, including senior leader Khalid Saeed Batarfi (Barakish, April 2; Gulf News, April 3). This incident was somewhat reminiscent of the 2006 Sana’a prison escape, which included dozens of future AQAP leaders, a formative event for the group that officially announced its establishment in 2009 (See Terrorism Monitor, September 27, 2007).

What follows is a look at Khalid Batarfi’s past within the group and an assessment of how his escape from prison and rejoining AQAP could impact the group’s current status. The article will also assess Batarfi’s potential ascendancy within AQAP following the recent demise of AQAP leader Nasir Abd al-Karim al-Wuhayshi, who was killed on June 9 by U.S. airstrikes in al-Mukalla (The National [Abu Dhabi], June 16). Batarfi has been described as either AQAP’s communication officer or the former commander for Yemen’s southern provinces, which highlights the high relevance of his militant profile. Alongside the new AQAP’s leader, Qasim al-Raymi, Batarfi is also one of the few members of the group’s old guard still alive.

A Member of AQAP’s Old Guard

Public information on the personal life of Khalid Saeed Batarfi is almost nonexistent. According to Arab media, Batarfi (a.k.a. Anu Miqdad al-Kindi) was born in Saudi Arabia in 1975, but he is of Yemeni origin (Nashwan News, September 5, 2010; al-Shibami.net, May 10, 2013; al-Sharq al-Awsat, April 5). According to the same sources, back in 2010, Batarfi was already one of the leading AQAP commanders in the Lawdar district of southern Abyan province where he reportedly plotted a number of attacks against the Yemeni army, including major assaults targeting army posts. This suggests that Batarfi was probably a part of the first nucleus of al-Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia who later merged with the Yemeni al-Qaeda branch to establish AQAP in 2009, despite it being unclear when he left Saudi Arabia for Yemen.

Batarfi’s senior position within AQAP was further confirmed in other media reports following the group’s rise across Abyan in early 2011, although divergent accounts make it difficult to pin down his exact role at that time. For instance, some accounts depicted Batarfi as AQAP’s regional commander for the southern provinces and as the leader of AQAP’s military wing in Abyan and al-Bayda (al-Watan, March 18, 2011; SabaNews, March 17, 2011). The Yemeni Ministry of Interior stated that Batarfi was, in reality, the AQAP communications officer, while other Yemeni authorities deemed him “one of the most dangerous AQAP leaders” (Yemen Post, March 18, 2011; 26September.net, March 17, 2011). Other media reports suggested that Batarfi was actually AQAP’s amir of Abyan province, an assessment that, after Batarfi’s escape in April, was repeated by almost all the international media outlets; this position would have meant that he played a decisive role in the 2011-2012 AQAP offensive in southern Yemen (Adenlghad.net, October 1, 2013; The National [Abu Dhabi], April 2; al-Arabiya, April 5; Okaz.com, April 5). However, the latter hypothesis is likely incorrect due to a number of contrasting circumstances. AQAP officially established its emirate of Abyan on March 31, 2011 after the group’s militants managed to capture all the provincial major cities, including Ja’ar, Zinjibar and Shuqrah (al-Bawaba News, March 31, 2011). However, Khalid Batarfi was arrested by the Yemeni army on March 16, 2011 in north central Ma’rib province, along with two other senior militants (SabaNews, March 17, 2011; Yemen Post, March 18, 2011; al-Sharq al-Awsat, April 5). At the time of his arrest, he was carrying a computer, GSM phones, automatic weapons, explosive materials and instructions for building improvised explosive devices (IEDs) (26September.net, March 17, 2011). As such, his detention in Marib makes his role as the leading commander behind the 2011-2012 AQAP offensive in southern Yemen highly questionable.

While his exact role within AQAP as a senior commander or amir of Abyan is unclear, however, it is almost undisputable that Batarfi was a key figure in AQAP’s early phases, suggesting that AQAP’s attack on al-Mukalla Central Prison was probably a deliberate attempt by the group to free its senior commander.

Batarfi’s Current Role Within AQAP

Shortly after his prison escape, pictures of Batarfi defiantly posing inside the local provincial governor’s palace in al-Mukalla were posted on social media by pro-jihadist accounts (National Yemen, April 4; YemenAkhbar, April 5). Despite their highly symbolic nature, the pictures were the first indication of the new leading position entrusted to Batarfi in the city. Local media reported that Batarfi had been named the new “governor of al-Mukalla” shortly thereafter (al-Hayat, May 6; al-Jazeera, May 6). Indeed, on May 2, local residents organized and staged protests in al-Mukalla against AQAP’s continued presence in and control of the city, chanting slogans against the group and specifically against Batarfi (Khaleej Times, May 5).

In a further indication pointing to the senior position now held by Batarfi, he read the eulogy statements for both AQAP Shari’a official Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi and AQAP’s leader Nasir Abd al-Karim al-Wuhayshi, who had been killed in two U.S. airstrikes on April 21 and June 9 respectively (al-Jazeera, May 7; The National [Abu Dhabi], June 16). [1] This also suggests that Batarfi has likely replaced both al-Ansi and Harith bin Ghazi al-Nadhari (who was also killed on January 31 by another U.S. drone strike) as a new mouthpiece for AQAP or possibly the group’s spokesmen (Militant Leadership Monitor, March).

Conclusions

Batarfi’s escape materialized at a time when AQAP enjoys an almost complete freedom of maneuver in southern Yemen as a result of the Saudi-led military campaign targeting the Zaydi Shi’a Houthi movement with the aim of restoring the legitimacy of President Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi and a worsening political crisis that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. At the same time, Batarfi’s reappearance came while the group continues to be heavily degraded in its leadership structure by recurring U.S. airstrikes, the last of which managed to eliminate al-Wuhayshi. In his June 15 video, Batarfi was quick to proclaim that the group held a shura (council) meeting in which it was agreed to nominate Qasim al-Raymi, previously AQAP’s military chief, as the new leader, assuring some form of continuity in the group’s direction. [2] As Batarfi is one of the members of AQAP’s original nucleus still alive or not in prison, it is highly likely that he will rapidly rise in the group’s hierarchy in order to maintain such continuity. In the meantime, AQAP will continue to maintain its ability to replenish its ranks by attracting disgruntled Sunni tribesmen hostile to the Shi’a Houthis and freeing senior commanders from prison (as they did with Batarfi), and further blows against its senior echelon will hardly translate into lasting military successes.

Ludovico Carlino is a Middle East and North Africa analyst at IHS Country Risk specializing in jihadist movements across the region.

Notes

1. Batarfi’s eulogy for Nasir Abd al-Karim al-Wuhayshi can be found at: https://justpaste.it/ls6f.

2. Ibid.