Trump Announces Leader Of Al-Qaeda In Yemen Killed By US Drone Strike

Thursday evening President Trump announced the death of al-Qaeda’s chief in Yemen by a US drone strike. The New York Times first reported last week the likely death of Qasim al-Rimi, the founder and leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in a US airstrike, which the president has now confirmed. Days ago Saudi media also began reporting his death.

“Under Rimi, AQAP committed unconscionable violence against civilians in Yemen and sought to conduct and inspire numerous attacks against the United States and our forces,” Trump said in a White House official statement. “His death further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qa’ida movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security.”

The successful counter-terror operation also reportedly killed an unspecified deputy of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. This other top al-Qaeda operative’s name was not immediately given. 

The State Department had issued a $10 million reward for information leading to Rimi’s capture. Interestingly, he’s alleged to have directly threatened attack on President Trump.

According to the Rewards for Justice statement:

On February 5, 2017, al-Rimi released an audiotape in which he threatened U.S. President Donald Trump. In a May 7, 2017 video, he urged supporters living in Western countries to conduct “easy and simple” attacks and praised Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people in a June 2016 mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando Florida.

US intelligence had also linked him to a 2008 attack on the US Embassy in Yemen, and to the 2009 “underwear bomber” plot to blow up a US-bound airliner.

The State Department’s brief bio information indicates Rimi was active in Sunni jihadist activities and leadership going back to the 1990’s:

Qasim al-Rimi was named emir of AQAP in June 2015, immediately after he swore allegiance to al-Qa’ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and called for renewed attacks against the United States. Al-Rimi trained terrorists at an al-Qa’ida camp in Afghanistan in the 1990’s, and subsequently returned to Yemen and became an AQAP military commander.

His death marks the third designated terrorist killed by the US in recent months, following IRGC Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani and more significantly ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

According to CNN, Rimi had long been at the top of Trump’s list of desired kills or captures: “Rimi was a target of a January 2017 raid on an al Qaeda compound in Yemen that led to the first US military combat death under the President, a senior US military official told CNN at the time.”

Days after the raid Rimi had released an audio message calling Trump “the new fool of the White House received a painful slap across his face.”

But clearly it’s America’s Commander-in-Chief who had the last laugh.