Nayif Mohammed al-Qahtani

Nayif Mohammed Saeed al-Kurdi al-Qahtani, was a Saudi Arabian jihadist militant and propagandist who was active in Yemen. He joined al-Qaeda in Yemen in 2007 and was implicated in several attacks linked to the group and its successor, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). He was noted for having founded the jihadist online magazine Sada al-Malahem in 2008, the former flagship journal of both groups, as well as the al-Malahem Media Foundation, the official media wing of AQAP. By the time of his death, Qahtani was considered an influential AQAP commander involved in activities in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Biography

Early life and militant activities Qahtani was born in Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia on 25 March 1988. He was the youngest of his siblings and was raised primarily by his eldest brother after the death of his father. His brother described him as timid and having "no leadership qualities". but a difficult marriage resulted in him leaving his pregnant wife and travelling to Yemen in 2006.

Shortly after moving, he joined al-Qaeda in Yemen in early 2007 and attended a training camp at the Abu Jabara Valley in Saada Governorate, where he received training in weapons, explosives, martial arts and propaganda. An al-Qaeda biography states that Qahtani was first involved in a suicide bombing which killed eight Spanish tourists in July 2007, calling it "a good start to his career." A security official said he assisted in sheltering the bomber in Marib before he carried out the attack. After the bombing, Qahtani was assigned to the media division of the group.

Sada al-Malahem and al-Malahem Media Foundation Shortly after the Marib bombing, Qahtani directly met al-Qaeda in Yemen leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi and proposed to him the creation of an online magazine to bolster recruitment. Wuhayshi approved of the idea, and within the weeks the first issue of Sada al-Malahem was released on 13 January 2008. it contained several articles written by Qahtani focusing on international conflicts and politics as well as a two-part interview between him and the magazine's editors. He explained in the interview his rationale for moving to Yemen:My choice was based on two reasons, the first and most important is a religious reason, as the Almighty said "Fight the unbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you," and to execute the commandment of the messenger of God, who said "expel the polytheists from the Arabian Peninsula" and to liberate al-Qibla of Muslims and the mosque of Mustafa and to cleanse the land of the peninsula... from the filth of the polytheists and apostates. The second reason is a military reason. If the interests of the enemy in the Arabian Peninsula were hit and the funding from oil was stopped and the oil refineries were destroyed, the enemy would collapse, and it would not only withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, but it would completely collapse. If it were to be hit from various locations, it would withdraw humiliated from the land of Muslims. In February, a report on the Saudi government's 85 most-wanted militants listed Qahtani as sixth in order. It claimed he "planned assassinations, targeted oil facilities in Saudi, [is] linked to al-Qaeda in Yemen, [and] financed terrorist operations in Spain." It profiled him as "a liaison between Al Qaeda cells in Yemen and Saudi Arabia" and an operational manager who channeled foreign funds for the group.

Death On 15 May 2010, The Guardian reported it was told by Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye that Qahtani had died in April during a gunfight with authorities in Saudi Arabia. He said an AQAP leader had confirmed Qahtani's death to him and that the group would announce it soon. Meanwhile, Fox News was told by US military officials that Qahtani died in an accidental explosion as he was handling a bomb. They said that he was being monitored by the US prior, but that his death did involve the US.

Qahtani's death was described as the most significant suffered by AQAP since the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in December 2009. A US official said he was "a vibrant guy linked to ongoing operations planning, and his death will have an impact." Princeton University terrorism expert Gregory Johnsen characterized Qahtani as "a pioneering figure who helped turn Yemen's upstart group into a formidable terrorist network", but said his death likely wouldn't have a large impact as other leaders had surpassed him in importance by that point. He also noted that Qahtani could have already been dead by the time the US had sanctioned him. Shaye said the prospect "shows how few details the Americans have on AQAP: they sanction one of its leaders after he had been killed."