He is married to the sister of Tariq al-Fadhli, a Yemeni who fought alongside al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladin in Afghanistan. When more than 4,000 Arabs returned from fighting the Soviets there, al-Ahmar organized them into units and deployed them in the 1994 civil war.
阿赫玛尔与伊斯兰圣战分子之间的关系总会引起极大的关注。他的妻子就是基地组织领导人奥萨马·本·拉登在阿富汗的战友塔里克·法赫里的姐妹。当4000多名阿拉伯人结束在阿富汗的抗苏战斗后，阿赫玛尔又将他们组织起来投入到了1994年的内战中。