Khaled Saleh al-Din Zidane, a high-ranking member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and son of the group’s leader Saif al-Adel, has died.
The announcement came from AQAP’s official magazine, al-Malahim, which did not provide details about the circumstances of his death.
At 29, Khaled was actively involved in AQAP’s strategic operations and closely collaborated with his father.
He was last known to be in Yemen, serving as al-Adel’s personal representative, according to the Long War Journal.
His death is a notable loss for AQAP, one of the most active branches of al-Qaeda, and a significant personal blow to his father, who is reportedly in Iran.
Born in 1995, Khaled played key roles in recruitment, media, and internal management within AQAP.
He contributed an anti-American article to al-Malahim and shared economic data on Yemen’s public debt from 2000 to 2024.
Saif al-Adel, Khaled’s father, is a veteran jihadist and considered the de facto leader of al-Qaeda after Ayman al-Zawahiri’s death in 2022.
Saif has a long history with al-Qaeda and is on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for his alleged role in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
He notably helped produce Osama Bin Laden’s notorious videos, which quickly reached audiences around the world.
He currently resides in Iran, managing al-Qaeda’s operations from there.
