The State Department has raised its reward to $10 million for information leading to the identification or capture of Sa’ad bin Atef al-Awlaki, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Al-Awlaki has been responsible for directing attacks against the United States and its allies and has a history of kidnapping Americans and Westerners in Yemen while serving as the amir of Yemen’s Shabwah province, according to a recent State Department statement.
Previously, the reward for al-Awlaki was $6 million through the Rewards for Justice program. He is also known by the aliases Sa’d Muhammad Atif and Jalaal al-Sa-idi and is believed to have been born in Yemen between 1978 and 1983. The department describes him as about 5’6″ with a thin build. Rewards of $5 million and $4 million are also being offered for information on Ibrahim al-Banna and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, two key figures who assist al-Awlaki in leading AQAP. Information can be reported via encrypted messaging apps or the Rewards for Justice Tor tipline. Established by Congress in 1984, the program is run by the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security and has paid out more than $250 million to over 125 informants who have aided U.S. national security efforts.