Gloating as he relaxes with his AK-47, these
pictures show an al-Qaeda commander relaxing inside a palace in Yemen just days
after terrorists liberated him from prison.
Khalid Saeed Batarfi was a senior leader with
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) before he was jailed by Yemeni
officials.
Pictures posted online today show the
high-ranking terrorist grinning as he sits in the governor's palace in the city
of Mukalla, pretending to be on the telephone as he wields an assault rifle,
A second photograph shows Batarfi standing on a Yemeni flag in the abandoned building.
Two days ago he was freed, along with 300
other inmates, as the terrorist group stormed the prison he was being held in,
killing two guards.
Batarfi is among AQAP's top regional
commanders, known for his leading role in a 2011-2012 battle with government
troops during which extremists seized large parts of the south and east of
Yemen.
The militants stormed the Central Prison of
Mukalla with machine guns and rocket launchers during a midnight raid on
Thursday.
After taking over the prison and freeing a
number of members of AQAP, the terrorists overran government buildings and the
city's port.
AQAP Twitter accounts tweeted after the
prison raid: 'All the brothers have been liberated, including Sheikh Batarfi
who is now amongst his brothers, all praise to Allah.'
Mukalla was previously under control of
forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, however it is not clear what
resistance to the terrorists remains after he fled the capital Sana'a to Saudi
Arabia as rebels launched an attack on his palace.
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