US offers $10m reward in hunt for Al Qaeda leader in Yemen

State Department appeals for more information on three senior members of Sunni extremist group

AQAP members at a meeting at an undisclosed location in Yemen. AFP

The US State Department has issued an online appeal for information regarding senior members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

The department made a series of posts on X asking for information about Saad bin Atef Al Awlaki, the group’s leader, and two other senior members, Ibrahim Muhammad Salih Al Banna and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud Al Qosi.

The State Department upped its reward offer for Mr Al Awlaki, who became the leader of AQAP in 2024 following the death of Khalid Saeed Batarfi, to $10 million.

According to the State Department, Mr Al Awlaki has “called for attacks against the United States and its allies”.

“As the group’s amir and as a former AQAP amir in Shabwah province in Yemen, he has led AQAP’s attacks against the United States and has kidnapped American and Westerners in Yemen,” it said.

Mr Al Banna, for whom the State Department has offered a $5 million reward, is described as a founding member of AQAP and who serves as the group’s chief of security. Mr Al Qosi, who has a $4 million bounty, has called for “lone wolf” attacks against the US.

What is AQAP?

AQAP was designated by the US a foreign terrorist organisation in January 2010. It is a Sunni extremist group that operates in Yemen and has been behind attacks inside and outside the country.

The group has carried out several attacks against the Yemeni government. One of the deadliest was against the Ministry of Defence in 2013 when at least 52 people were killed, according to the US National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC).

Since the civil war began between the central government and the Houthis in 2015, AQAP has focused on combating the expansion of the Iran-backed Houthis. According to the NCTC, AQAP has formed a stronghold in Mukalla, in Hadramawt Governorate, where it has freed prisoners, robbed banks and taken over government facilities.

Outside Yemen, AQAP sent an operative who attempted to detonate an explosive device concealed in his underwear aboard a Northwest Airlines flight in December 2009. This was followed by an attempt to send explosive-laden packages to the US in October the following year. And in January 2015, AQAP claimed responsibility for the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine’s office in Paris that left 12 people dead.