Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi (October 1975 – 21 April 2015) was a senior leader of
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( or : Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, . Organization of Jihad's Base in the Arabian Peninsula), or AQAP is a Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamic extremism, Islamist militant organization which s ...
(AQAP) based in
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
. Al-Ansi appeared in many of AQAP's propaganda videos, claiming the
kidnap
Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
of US photojournalist
Luke Somers and the
Charlie Hebdo attack in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. On 7 May 2015, AQAP announced that al-Ansi was killed in a US
drone strike
Drone warfare is a form of warfare using Military drone, military drones or Military robot, military robots. The robots may be Telerobotics, remote controlled or have varying levels of Autonomous robot, autonomy during their mission. Types of ro ...
.
Biography
In 1993, al-Ansi enrolled at the
Iman University, which was headed by Sheikh
Abdul Majid al-Zindani, a longtime ally of
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
and al-Qaeda.
In 1996 he tried to fight in
Kashmir
Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
, but the
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
i authorities prevented him from doing so. Instead, he went to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
where he met senior al-Qaeda officials,
Abu Hafs al-Masri and
Saif al-Adel. Along with other al-Qaeda members, al-Ansi tried to join the
Civil war in Tajikistan
The Tajikistani Civil War,, group=pron also known as the Tajik Civil War, began in May 1992 and ended in June 1997. Regional groups from the Garm and Gorno-Badakhshan regions of Tajikistan rose up against the newly formed government of Preside ...
but failed to reach the country "due to the heavy snow".
[
He went home to Yemen in 1997, but returned to Afghanistan in 1998. He was received by Osama bin Laden, who sent him to ]Kabul
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
and placed him as Emir
Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...
of the Kabul Reception. Al-Ansi joined al-Qaeda's forces on the battlefield and was selected to participate in their most intense training course in Afghanistan, called the "Qualification of the Forces". Senior al-Qaeda leaders taught the course and among his trainees was Qasim al-Raymi, who is AQAP's military commander. Al-Ansi and al-Raymi received further training at the Al-Farouq camp.[
In 2001, Bin Laden had al-Ansi travel to the ]Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, where he was to qualify the mujahideen in Sharia
Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
and militarily. That same year, al-Ansi assisted As-Sahab, al Qaeda's propaganda arm, in creating two productions: the "American Intervention" and the "State of the Islamic Ummah". After Al-Ansi completed his mission in the Philippines, he tried to return to Afghanistan after the US-led invasion of the country in the wake of the 9/11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. Al-Ansi was detained in Yemen en route to Afghanistan in early 2002; Yemeni authorities released him after six months imprisonment.[
After his release, he studied at the Iman University, where he received a certificate in Sharia jurisprudence. In addition to attending lectures at Iman, he preached among the youth and conducted some special training. Al-Ansi eventually became a senior official in AQAP, and attempted to convince the militant Jihadist Al Nusra Front and ]Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...
(ISIL) groups in Syria to end their fighting and unite against the West.[
In April 2015, he was killed by a US drone strike in Yemen with his eldest son.]
See also
* Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansi, Nasser
Yemeni al-Qaeda members
2015 deaths
Deaths by American drone strikes in Yemen
Assassinated al-Qaeda leaders
Al-Qaeda leaders
1975 births
People from Taiz
Yemeni Islamists
Yemeni mass murderers
Bosnian mujahideen
People killed in the Yemeni civil war (2014–present)