Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (AP)-The chief of the Al-Qaeda Yemen Branch threatened both the American president Donald Trump and the billionaire Elon Musk during the War of Israel-Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in his first video message since the group’s care last year.
The half-hour video message from Saad Bin Atef Al-Awlaki, who spread online early Saturday via Al-Qaeda supporters in the Arabian Peninsula, also included calls from solitary wolf activists to assassinate leaders in Egypt, Jordan and the Arab States of the Gulf during the war, which decided Gaza.
The video of Al-Awlaki’s speech has shown images of Trump and Musk, as well as US vice-president JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of State Pete Hegseth. It also included images of Musk companies logos, including the Tesla electric manufacturer.
“There are no red lines after what happened and arrives at our people in Gaza,” said Al-Awlaki. “Reciprocity is legitimate.”
Branch long thought the most dangerous
Although supposed to have been weakened in recent years due to intestine struggles and the presumed American drone strikes which kill its leaders, the known group of the acronym AQAP had been considered the most dangerous branch of Al-Qaeda which still operated after the death of 2011 by attacks by the US Navy of the founder bin Laden, which led on September 11, 2001.
In 2022, a strike of American drones in Afghanistan killed the successor of Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who also helped to plot on September 11. The September 11 attacks began decades of war by the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq, and have masked the rise of the Islamic State group.
US President Donald Trump (right) shakes Elon Musk’s hand in the Oval Office, Washington DC, May 30, 2025.
Al-Awlaki already has an American bonus of $ 6 million on his head, because Washington says that he “publicly called on attacks on the United States and its allies.” He replaced the chief of the AQAP, Khalid al-Batarfi, whose death was announced by the group in 2024.
A goal of Houthis too
The AQAP seized the War of Israel-Hamas follows the efforts of the Houthi rebels of Yemen to do the same. The group supported by Iran has launched missile attacks against Israel and targeted from commercial ships moving in the corridor of the Red Sea, as well as American warships.
The Trump administration launched an intense strike campaign on the Houthis, which only ended at the end of the president’s recent trip to the Middle East.
The international Houthi profile has increased while the group remains mired in the longtime war of Yemen. Al-Awlaki could bet on the same thing for his group, which estimated that UN experts have between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group collects funds by stealing banks and money exchange stores, as well as by smuggling weapons, counterfeiting of currencies and ransom, according to the UN.
Shiite Zaydi Houthis has already denied having worked with Aqap, a Sunni extremist group. However, targeting the Houthi AQAP has dropped in recent years, while activists have continued to attack the forces of the Saudi Arabia, which fought the Houthis.
“While the Houthis gain popularity as leaders of the” Resistance of the Arab world and Muslim “against Israel, Al-Awlaki seeks to challenge their domination by presenting themselves as also concerned about the situation in Gaza,” said Mohammed Al-Basha, a Yemenian expert from the Société de Consulting at Risk of Basha.
“For a community of national security and foreign policy increasingly disengaged by Yemen, this video is a clear reminder: Yemen is always important.”
