AQAP leader Khaled Batarfi in the released video
30-04-2023 at 1 PM Aden Time
Aden (South24)
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a video on Saturday of the organization's leader Khaled Batarfi in which he attacked Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and called on the "Sunnis" and the tribes to support the organization, which is facing a military war in South Yemen.
Batarfi appeared for the second time in years, in a video broadcast by Malahem Foundation, which lasted about 15 minutes.
Batarfi, who is a Saudi national, attacked the recent agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and said that it is considered submission by the Saudi regime to the "Shia" after its failure to confront Iran and what he described as "Iran's agents".
Batarfi said, "Saudi Arabia saved Ali Abdullah Saleh from the Yemeni people's revolution in the Gulf initiative, and empowered the Houthis in Yemen through the Coalition and the failed Decisive Storm."
Batarfi attacked the UAE and the forces backed by Abu Dhabi in Yemen, after AQAP lost its most prominent stronghold in Abyan at the end of last year at the hands of the Southern forces.
Related: Southern Forces Control the Largest Military Camp for AQAP
Batarfi called on the Salafis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the tribes to support AQAP
He said, "I call on all Sunnis, especially the Salafis and the young people of the Muslim Brotherhood, to support the religion and push back the enemies of Iran and America's agents."
Batarfi also expressed his admiration for the Afghani model achieved by the Taliban. He claimed that the Taliban defeated the US and was able to establish its state in accordance with Islamic Sharia.
Batarfi's latest edition began with excerpts from a previous speech by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in which he said that the Saudi army is capable of defeating the Houthis and entering Sanaa within days.
The release also included scenes of explosive devices, bombs, and explosions that targeted the Southern forces in Abyan governorate, east of the capital city Aden.
In mid-September, the Southern forces took control of the largest AQAP camps in Wadi Oemran, in the center of Abyan governorate, as part of the "Arrows of the East" operation.
Related: Southern Forces: Abyan's «Arrows of the East» Operation is Completed
Batarfi's speech coincided with the 7th anniversary of AQAP's expulsion from the Coast of Hadramout by the Hadrami Elite Forces.
Today, the Second Military District held a military parade for the Hadrami Elite Forces, marking the anniversary of the liberation of the Coast of Hadramout from the organization on April 24, 2016.
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