Al-Awlaki was born in Al-Shu'bah in Wadi Yasbam in the Al-Saeed District inShabwa Governorate from the al-Awlaki tribe in either 1978, 1981, or 1983.[1]
Before his leadership of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, he was a member of AQAP'sshura council.[2]
The Yemeni military falsely claimed to have killed al-Awlaki on 7 May 2014, during their offensive in southern Yemen.[3]
After the death ofKhalid Batarfi,[4] al-Awlaki was appointed as the new leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula through AQAP's media group,Al-Malahem Media, on March 11, 2024, which involved a statement reading by Abu Khubaib al-Sudani.[5] Before al-Awlaki officially led the group, throughout 2019 till the death of Batarfi, he and al-Awlaki both led conflicting sectors of AQAP.[6] According to theUnited Nations, this conflict was due to Batarfi's disliking for Southern Yemeni tribes and al-Awlaki's support for them.[7]
The United States program,Rewards for Justice, put aUSD$6 million bounty on al-Awlaki.[8] This bounty was increased to $10 million in 2025.[9]
^"مقتل أمير تنظيم القاعدة في اليمن سعد العتيقي" [Killing of Al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, Saad Al-Atiqi].Al Jazeera Arabic (in Arabic). 2014-05-07. Retrieved2025-01-31. [The Yemeni military authorities announced the killing of Saad Atef Al-Atiqi, the emir of Al-Qaeda in Shabwa...]
Al-Qaeda
