AQAP confirms death of leader, appoints successor
February 23, 2020
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed the death of its leader, Qassim al-Raymi, and appointed his successor, a jihadist monitoring agency said Sunday.
President Donald Trump announced al-Raymi's death on February 6. Trump said he had been killed as part of a counterterrorism operation in Yemen.
However, it has only now been confirmed by AQAP religious official Hamid bin Hamoud al-Tamimi, SITE Intelligence Group reported.
The announcement came in an audio speech delivered by al-Tamimi, said SITE.
"In his speech, Tamimi spoke at length about Rimi and his jihadi journey, and stated that Khalid bin Umar Batarfi is the new leader of AQAP," the group said.
The United States deems AQAP as one of the deadliest branches of the Al Qaeda network founded by Osama bin Laden.
jsi/aw (AFP, Reuters)
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