The Interior Ministry said on Thursday that one of the two members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula arrested earlier was Khalid Saeed BaTarfi, the AQAP communication officer.
BaTarfi was arrested in Taiz, and the second leader, Ahmed Abdul Jaleel Al-Khudhiabi, known as Amir Owail, was captured at a security checkpoint in Marib province, the ministry said, adding that the security forces seized with the two viscous materials, papers containing instructions for making explosives, a computer, a bomb, machine guns and a number of cell phone cards.
In addition to his job as the communication officer, BaTarfi also worked as the AQAP military commander in Abyan and Baidha’a provinces and was involved in all terrorist operations in the two provinces in the last period, the ministry said.
Today, three AQAP militants were killed in an exchange of gunfire with the security forces in Marib. Two soldiers were killed and others wounded in the battle.
The arrests and casualties come as AQAP has recently stepped up attacks against security personnel and checkpoints, mainly in southeastern and eastern regions, amid the escalating protests demanding the ouster of President Saleh.