Gloating as he relaxes with his AK-47 , these pictures show an al-Qaeda commander relaxing inside a palace in Yemen just days after terrorists liberated him from prison . Khalid Saeed Batarfi was a senior leader with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( AQAP ) before he was jailed by Yemeni officials . Two days ago he was freed , along with 300 other inmates , as the terrorist group stormed the prison he was being held in , killing two guards . Scroll down for video . Khalid Saeed Batarfi poses for photographs inside the governor 's palace in Mukalla , Yemen , days after he was released from prison by terrorists . Batarfi is among AQAP 's top regional commanders , known for his leading role in a 2011-2012 battle with government troops during which extremists seized large parts of the south and east of Yemen . Pictures posted online today show the high-ranking terrorist grinning as he sits in the governor 's palace in the city of Mukalla , pretending to be on the telephone as he wields an assault rifle . A second photograph shows Batarfi standing on a Yemeni flag in the abandoned building . The militants stormed the Central Prison of Mukalla with machine guns and rocket launchers during a midnight raid on Thursday . Rebels : Yemen 's president fled to Saudi Arabia after Houthi rebels launched an attack on his palace in the capital Sana ' a . After taking over the prison and freeing a number of members of AQAP , the terrorists overran government buildings and the city 's port . According to CBS , AQAP Twitter accounts tweeted after the prison raid : 'All the brothers have been liberated , including Sheikh Batarfi who is now amongst his brothers , all praise to Allah . ' Mukalla was previously under control of forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi , however it is not clear what resistance to the terrorists remains after he fled the capital Sana ' a to Saudi Arabia as rebels launched an attack on his palace .
Khalid Saeed Batarfi was freed from a Yemeni prison by al-Qaeda this week . The U.S. State Department said the release came after negotiations with Yemen and that it had been "facilitated through Yemen's government of national reconciliation."