Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi

Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi
Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi
Born	October 1975 Taiz, Yemen
Died	April 21, 2015 (aged 40) Mukalla, Yemen
Cause of death	US Drone strike
Nationality	Yemeni
Citizenship	Yemen
Alma mater	Iman University
Occupation	AQAP Officer, terrorist
Years active	1995–2015
Military career
Allegiance	El Mudžahid (1995) AQAP (1996–2015)
Years of service	1995–2015
Battles/wars	Bosnian War War in Afghanistan Yemeni Civil War

Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi was a senior leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) based in Yemen. Al-Ansi appeared in many of AQAP's propaganda videos, claiming the kidnap of US photojournalist Luke Somers and the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris. On the 7th of May 2015, AQAP announced Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi was killed in a US drone strike.

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 and al-Qaeda.

Al-Ansi was a member of the Bosnian Muslim El-Mudžahid detachment of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War in 1995. There, he received military training and fought against the Army of Republika Srpska. He remained in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a year, before returning to Yemen.

In 1996 he tried to fight in Kashmir, but the Pakistani authorities prevented him from doing so. Instead, he went to Afghanistan 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 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 and placed him as Emir 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.