Jalal Baleedi

Jalal Mohsen Saleh Baleedi al-Marqashi (1981 or 1982 – 3 February 2016),Efn|The Jamestown Foundation described him as being 30 years old as of 2012. Considering him a top leader of AQAP and a premier field commander in multiple governorates, the United States had offered a $5 million bounty for information on Baleedi by 2014. During the Yemeni civil war, Baleedi openly detailed AQAP and Ansar al-Sharia's support for and cooperation with anti-Houthi forces, some affiliated with the government. He led Ansar al-Sharia's recapture of Zinjibar and Jaar at the end of 2015. He was killed by a US drone strike on 3 February 2016.

Early life Little is known about Baleedi's early life. What is known is that he was born and raised in al-Sawad, a village in al Wade'a district, Abyan. His father was a brigadier general in the Yemeni military. A local resident said that Baleedi received education in al-Sawad and worked at a bakery in the provincial capital of Zinjibar, adding that he was "a good man and helpful with the people." An avid enjoyer of football, he played as a goalkeeper for the local Hassan Sports Club from 2000 to 2001. After briefly being unemployed upon graduating from school, he worked as an imam at a mosque in Zinjibar until 2011.

Ansar al-Sharia In early 2011, Baleedi was appointed the emir (leader) of Ansar al-Sharia, a newly-established Islamist militant group. Ansar al-Sharia is heavily linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and is believed to be an affiliate or direct extension of the group. The group was first publicly mentioned in April 2011 by AQAP's senior cleric Adel al-Abab, who described it as a local rebranding of AQAP to attract more support among Yemenis. Baleedi himself was vague on the relationship between the groups, and stated that his role is "an assignment, not an honor".

By 2014, Baleedi was reported to have become AQAP's premier field commander in Abyan, Shabwah, Lahij, Hadhramaut, and al-Bayda governorates, all in which AQAP uses the Ansar al-Sharia brand.

Leadership style Baleedi's leadership was consistent with Abab's claim that AQAP was moving towards a more populist presentation locally. He was present during Ansar al-Sharia's capture of Zinjibar on 27 May 2011, and gave a speech at a mosque that day declaring that his group was soon intending to seize Aden. Intense fighting took place for the rest of the year as the army attempted to regain the city, leaving it mostly destroyed and depopulated. On 13 January 2012, Ansar al-Sharia permitted a group of more than 2,000 displaced residents to return to the city for a visit. Before a dinner was held for the residents, Baleedi addressed them in a speech assuring their safety and the restoration of public services and justice under Sharia. He was later featured in a video shared by Ansar al-Sharia on 26 January, in which he urged the citizens of Abyan to hold demonstrations to demand the military's withdrawal from the region.

Baleedi helped coordinate a successful attack on military installations near Zinjibar on 5 March which left 185 soldiers dead and 73 captured. After being allowed to see the captured soldiers held in Jaar, journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad was addressed while blindfolded by Baleedi, who threatened to have the prisoners executed if the government did not agree to conducting negotiations soon. A week after, negotiations proceeded. The soldiers were released on 29 April after a ceremony in which Baleedi gave a speech to a crowd of civilians.

A large-scale offensive was launched by the Yemeni government on 12 May in order to recapture Abyan and Shabwah from Ansar al-Sharia. A video spread through social media on 30 May showed Baleedi present at the 7 October militant base in Jaar, with him denying reports that it along with other Ansar al-Sharia positions were retaken by the army. However, by 15 June, Abyan had been completely cleared of Ansar al-Sharia presence, with Zinjibar, Jaar, and Shuqrah having been recaptured. Most militants, including Baleedi, were believed to have fled into their native tribal areas, blending in with the locals. On 10 August 2012, Baleedi reportedly escaped from an AQAP bomb-making compound in Jaar as gunmen from the Popular Committees raided it.

Shift to Hadhramaut Among other AQAP forces, Baleedi eventually fled to the al-Mahfad region in Abyan in the aftermath of the offensive, where they established a major training camp. After a series of attacks on local military positions, the Yemeni government launched an offensive in the region in April 2014, capturing the al-Mahfad camp and forcing the militants to retreat to Hadhramaut, where Baleedi was AQAP's provincial commander. On 26 May, a statement attributed to Baleedi surfaced on jihadist forums in which he condemned the offensive.

Baleedi and his forces were able to move freely throughout the mountainous areas of Abyan and Shabwah, as well as the al-Qatn and Seiyun districts of Hadhramaut. A soldier posted in al-Mahfad district said in August, "Baleedi has great fame and inspires a lot of fear when we hear about his movements in al-Mahfad, which makes us always afraid when we leave the camp. We have heard that he is a ruthless man with clever ideas and plans which target soldiers."

Baleedi was believed to have masterminded an attack on 8 August in which a group of 14 unarmed soldiers were forced out of a bus and executed in Shibam. The attack was met with outrage and condemnation in Yemen,

Yemeni civil war An AQAP-linked Twitter account posted an interview of Baleedi on 12 November 2014, in which he spoke on the group's progress in recent clashes with the Houthis in Radaa amidst the Yemeni civil war. Baleedi claimed that the US was supporting the Houthis in their takeover in Yemen and had provided them air support, citing a drone strike on AQAP fighters in the al-Manasseh on 24 October which led to the Houthis seizing the area. He also notes the several AQAP leaders who were killed by drone strikes in Radda amid fighting with the Houthis. He also praised Sunni tribes resisting the Houthis, encouraging others to do the same.

Baleedi appeared in another interview in August 2015, in which he stated that AQAP was supplying money and weapons to anti-Houthi groups, and had converted Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadhramaut which AQAP took over in April, had been converted "into a safe haven for war casualties and displaced people." Regarding the arrival of Saudi-led coalition forces in Abyan who reinforced anti-Houthi factions, which included AQAP, to fight off a Houthi offensive, Baleedi stated that AQAP was displeased with their presence and claimed that they had impeded their progress in Abyan. Baleedi later led Ansar al-Sharia's capture of Zinjibar and Jaar from pro-government tribal forces on 2 December. Later in December, AQAP released a video celebrating their return to Jaar in which Baleedi was seen congratulating his fighters. He was one of the few militants seen not wearing a face covering. AQAP released a statement days later confirming his death, stating that he was "killed in a Crusader strike that targeted him while he was amongst the sons of his tribe in Abyan." Baleedi's death was the first suffered by AQAP leadership in 2016.

Baleedi's brother, Tawfiq Baleedi, was reportedly appointed by AQAP as the new emir of Zinjibar by 6 February. An internal power struggle proceeded to emerge between two AQAP factions in Zinjibar, one of which regarded Baleedi's brother as the local emir, while the other supported another local commander, Abu Anas Al-Sanani, for the position. On 8 February, clashes broke out in Zinjibar between the two sides, with at least seven militants being killed and another nine being wounded.