Al-Qaida’s Yemen branch leader dead

Khalid al-Batarfi. Pic/AP

The leader of Yemen's branch of al-Qaida is dead, the militant group announced late Sunday, without giving details.

Khalid al-Batarfi had a $5 million bounty on his head from the US government over leading the group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula over years that saw him imprisoned, freed in a jailbreak and governing forces in Yemen amid that country's grinding war.

Al-Qaida released a video showing al-Batarfi wrapped in a white funeral shroud and al-Qaida's black-and-white flag.

Though believed to be weakened in recent years due to infighting and US drone strikes killing its leaders, the group known has long been considered the most dangerous branch of the extremist group still operating after Osama bin Laden was killed.

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