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| Yemen al-Qaida leader killed by US drone strike | Yemen al-Qaida leader killed by US drone strike |
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| Al-Qaida’s most powerful franchise has announced the death of its leader, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, in a US air strike in Yemen, the latest blow to the global jihadi organisation. | Al-Qaida’s most powerful franchise has announced the death of its leader, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, in a US air strike in Yemen, the latest blow to the global jihadi organisation. |
| The killing of Wuhayshi, nicknamed Abu Basir and one of al-Qaida’s most charismatic leaders, was confirmed in a video statement by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). | The killing of Wuhayshi, nicknamed Abu Basir and one of al-Qaida’s most charismatic leaders, was confirmed in a video statement by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). |
| The group, which is engaged in fierce fighting in Yemen with domestic opponents, is under relentless pressure from US drone strikes and has suffered a loss of influence with the advances of its rival, Islamic State, in the arena of global jihad. | The group, which is engaged in fierce fighting in Yemen with domestic opponents, is under relentless pressure from US drone strikes and has suffered a loss of influence with the advances of its rival, Islamic State, in the arena of global jihad. |
| Related: How Isis crippled al-Qaida | Shiv Malik, Ali Younes, Spencer Ackerman, Mustafa Khalili | Related: How Isis crippled al-Qaida | Shiv Malik, Ali Younes, Spencer Ackerman, Mustafa Khalili |
| “Our Islamic nation, this was one of your champions and leaders,” said AQAP official Khaled Omar Batarfi in the statement, which said Wuhayshi was killed with two other militants. “In our time ... the leaders of jihad have been killed,” he added. “But the blood of these leaders has only increased the insistence on jihad.” | “Our Islamic nation, this was one of your champions and leaders,” said AQAP official Khaled Omar Batarfi in the statement, which said Wuhayshi was killed with two other militants. “In our time ... the leaders of jihad have been killed,” he added. “But the blood of these leaders has only increased the insistence on jihad.” |
| Arab media reports earlier said three suspected al-Qaida members were killed on 9 June in an apparent US drone strike in Mukalla, a south-eastern port city in Yemen. | Arab media reports earlier said three suspected al-Qaida members were killed on 9 June in an apparent US drone strike in Mukalla, a south-eastern port city in Yemen. |
| Batarfi said Qassem al-Raimi, nicknamed Abu Hurayra and a military commander in AQAP, was elected by the group’s leadership council to succeed Wuhayshi. He said many of the council members were able to meet and pledge allegiance to the new leader, despite security concerns and the fact the group was fighting on 11 fronts with Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen. | Batarfi said Qassem al-Raimi, nicknamed Abu Hurayra and a military commander in AQAP, was elected by the group’s leadership council to succeed Wuhayshi. He said many of the council members were able to meet and pledge allegiance to the new leader, despite security concerns and the fact the group was fighting on 11 fronts with Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen. |
| Wuhayshi, once a fighter in Afghanistan who accompanied Osama bin Laden in the caves of Tora Bora as he fled the US invasion in 2001, was the terror group mastermind’s secretary and close aide. He has been involved in fighting the Americans since the 1990s. After spending time in prison in Yemen, he escaped and helped found AQAP in 2009, rising to the leadership of the group. | Wuhayshi, once a fighter in Afghanistan who accompanied Osama bin Laden in the caves of Tora Bora as he fled the US invasion in 2001, was the terror group mastermind’s secretary and close aide. He has been involved in fighting the Americans since the 1990s. After spending time in prison in Yemen, he escaped and helped found AQAP in 2009, rising to the leadership of the group. |
| Under Wuhayshi’s leadership, the group helped maintain a semblance of influence for al-Qaida’s central leadership by refusing to pledge allegiance to the leader of Isis, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, when he declared the founding of a caliphate last year. | Under Wuhayshi’s leadership, the group helped maintain a semblance of influence for al-Qaida’s central leadership by refusing to pledge allegiance to the leader of Isis, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, when he declared the founding of a caliphate last year. |
| In a video released in November, AQAP’s chief cleric, Harith al-Nidhari, rejected the caliphate declaration and renewed the group’s allegiance to al-Qaida and its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, urging an end to the discord between the jihadi franchises. | In a video released in November, AQAP’s chief cleric, Harith al-Nidhari, rejected the caliphate declaration and renewed the group’s allegiance to al-Qaida and its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, urging an end to the discord between the jihadi franchises. |
| The US considers AQAP a threat, and has relentlessly pursued a drone war of attrition against the group in Yemen, even as the country descended into chaos amid a Saudi-led air campaign to stem the advance of the Houthi rebels, who belong to the Zaydi sect of Shia Islam and seized the capital, Sana’a, last year. AQAP considers the Houthis apostates, and the ensuing chaos has allowed the group to advance in Yemen’s eastern provinces. | |
| AQAP has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks against western targets. The gunmen who carried out the massacre at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January are thought to have trained with group, and AQAP said it was responsible for a failed attempt to bomb a transatlantic flight on Christmas Day 2009, involving the “underwear bomber” Umar Faruk Abdulmutallib. | AQAP has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks against western targets. The gunmen who carried out the massacre at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January are thought to have trained with group, and AQAP said it was responsible for a failed attempt to bomb a transatlantic flight on Christmas Day 2009, involving the “underwear bomber” Umar Faruk Abdulmutallib. |
| Meanwhile a militant group in Libya has appeared to deny reports that a US strike killed a notorious jihadi leader linked to al-Qaida. | |
| Libya’s recognised government had claimed that Mokhtar Belmokhtar, charged by the US with leading the deadly attack on a gas plant in Algeria in 2013, was killed in an American air strike over the weekend. The Americans confirmed that they had targeted Belmokhtar, but did not confirm his death. | |
| The Ansar al-Sharia militant group released a statement on Twitter that did not include a name resembling Belmokhtar’s on a list of seven people it said had died in the attack. | |
| “While we eulogise these heroes ... we deny the killing of any other personalities besides those whom we have named who are sons of this land [Libya],” the statement added. Reuters, which reported the statement, said it could not verify its authenticity. |