Al-Qaeda's leader in Yemen under arrest, UN report

Shafaq News/ The leader of al Qaeda's branch in Yemen has been under arrest for several months, the United Nations revealed on Thursday, in a huge step in the fight against terrorism.

According to the UN report, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) for just under a year was arrested and his deputy, Saad Atef al-Awlaqi, died during an "operation in Ghayda City, Al-Mahrah Governorate, in October."

The report did not offer further details about the arrest or where Batarfi is being held.

The terrorist is from a Yemeni family but was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He trained with al Qaeda and later joined al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen. Batarfi became a key ideologue for the group. CNN said.

Batarfi, who was designated a global terrorist by the US State Department in 2018, has appeared in numerous AQAP videos over recent years and appeared to have been the deputy of Qasim al-Rimi who had been killed in an airstrike in Yemen.

The U.N. report said AQAP had faced internal setbacks in recent months. “In addition to leadership losses, AQAP is suffering an erosion of its ranks caused by dissensions and desertions, led primarily by one of Batarfi’s ex-lieutenants, Abu Omar al-Nahdi”.

But AQAP still posed a threat and had staged significant attacks, the report said.

The U.N. report also warned that an eventual easing of Covid-19 restrictions could open the way for a surge in ISIS attacks.