Khalid Batarfi

Khalid Saeed Batarfi (; 1978 to 1980 – 10 March 2024), also known as Abū al-Miqdād al-Kindī , was a Saudi militant and the emir of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He oversaw the Yemen-based group's media network and led jihadist fighters in their takeover of Yemen's Abyan Governorate in 2011, where he was accorded the position of emir. He also reputedly carried out terrorist attacks in the Abyan and Hadhramaut governorates. The Washington Post compared the Mukalla prison break to the escape of 23 fighters, including future AQAP emir Nasir al-Wuhayshi, from a Yemeni prison in 2006, a formative event for the group.

Batarfi attracted media attention when he posed for photographs taken by al-Qaeda members in the Hadhramaut governor's palace, which fighters took over.

Batarfi was promoted to leader after the death of Qasim al-Raymi in January 2020. In February 2021, the United Nations claimed that Batarfi was arrested during a security operation in Al Ghaydah in October 2020. However, Batarfi later appeared in a video discussing the 6 January 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The U.S. Rewards for Justice Program offered up to $5 million in exchange for information leading to Batarfi's apprehension.