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Breaking: Khalid Batarfi, the leader of al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, is under arrest, UN report reveals. The report states he was detained in “an operation” in Yemen in October. Here is my story for CNN https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/04/politics/al-qaeda-un-report/index.html
Also significant: The UN report states that no member state has been able to confirm reports of the death from natural causes of al Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in October.
In its wide-ranging assessment of the global jihadist threat, the UN report warns that as coronavirus restrictions are eased, "a rash of pre-planned attacks may occur" because ISIS is determined to make global news headlines once again.
The UN report warns that the "economic and political toll of the pandemic, its aggravation of underlying drivers of violent extremism and its expected impact on counter-terrorism efforts are likely to increase the long-term [jihadist terror] threat everywhere."
