Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula confirmed on Sunday that its leader had been killed two weeks after the United States announced his death in a raid by a US plane in Yemen, according to a statement of the "SITE" center, which monitors news of terrorist groups.
In a statement, the organization reported the killing of "Sheikh Prince Abi Hurairah Qasim Al-Rimi after emigration, jihad, patience and affliction."
And the organization in the Arabian Peninsula - which is based in Yemen - announced in the same statement that "Khaled bin Omar Batarfi is the new leader of the organization in the Arabian Peninsula," as stated by "Site".
On February 7, the United States announced Al-Rimi's killing in a US military operation in Yemen as part of anti-terrorism efforts, without specifying the date of his death.
Al-Rimi, a Yemeni of origin, was involved in al-Qaeda, as he was close to the organization's leader, Nasser al-Wahishi, and succeeded him as head of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula after his killing on June 12, 2015.
Al-Rimi had been involved, along with Al-Wahaishi, in re-establishing al-Qaeda ranks in Yemen, and supervised the implementation of several operations against authority figures, foreign embassies, and relief organizations.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula arose after a merger between the Al-Qaeda organizations in Saudi Arabia and Yemen in the beginning of 2009 after the Saudi authorities tightened to pursue the organization's elements inside Saudi lands, which led them to seek refuge in Yemeni lands, taking advantage of the deteriorating security situation in the country and the Houthi war in the north and demanding The movement separated in the south.