Private sources told the Yemen Post that the second in command of Yemen- based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was killed in a bomb explosion while he was preparing it to be used against Yemeni and foreign targets.
Last month, Al-Shihri announced a holy war against the Houthi northern Shiites in Sa'ada, Jawf, and Ameran, accusing Iran's regime of backing Shiite rebels.
Al-Shihri, 35, did not finish high school and worked on trade before joining Al-Qaeda. Yemeni authorities accused him of being behind the operation that targeted the U.S. embassy in Sana’a.
Saeed Bin Ali Bin Jaber Al-Shihri or as called ‘’Abu Sufyan Al-Azdi”, who was arrested near the Pakistani-Afghani border at the end of 2001, trained on the methods of fighting inside cities in a camp located in the north of Kabul, Afghanistan, according to documents disclosed by the Pentagon as part of his file in Guantanamo Bay.
He arrived in Afghanistan two weeks after the September 11 attacks 2001, via Bahrain and Pakistan. Afterward, American interrogators said that he sought to participate in relief efforts.
He was detained in Guantanamo Bay for six years. He was then received by Saudi Arabia along with 11 others including the former leader of Al-Qaeda Mohammed Al-Awfi who both underwent the counseling program of the Saudi intelligence for a year before he disappeared to appear later in Yemen in mid-2008.
Saeed Al-Shihri got married to Wafa after returning from Guantanamo Bay through her brother, Yusuf Al-Shihri the wanted person No. 85 to the Saudi authorities. He was Saeed’s companion in Guantanamo Bay. Yusuf Al-Shihri was killed in October of 2009. The Saudi intelligence announced that it found in Yusuf Al-Shihri’s phone an audio video recording of Saeed Al-Shihri requesting financial support.
In 2009, Al-Qaeda in Yemen announced its merger with Saudi Arabia's Al-Qaeda organization to form Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).