Al-Qaeda leader in Yemen killed by US forces, Donald Trump confirms

The leader of Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen was killed in a US airstrike ordered by Donald Trump, the White House confirmed last night. Photo / AP

By The Telegraph

The leader of al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen was killed in a US airstrike ordered by Donald Trump, the White House confirmed last night.

Qassim al-Rimi, who leads al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was tracked for several months using aerial surveillance and other intelligence sources before the airstrike was carried out. The strike was reported last week and is thought to have been carried out early in January, but this is the first official confirmation of al-Rimi's death.

Al-Rimi was leader of one of the most powerful branches of the terrorist network, becoming a key target for the US government which put a $10 million bounty on his head. The jihadist's death is a major blow for the terror group, which has plotted several attacks on targets in the US and Europe.

In a statement released late last night, Mr Trump's spokesperson said al-Rimi's "death further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qaeda movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security".

Al-Rimi claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting in December at the Naval Air Station Pensacola where a Saudi officer cadet killed three American sailors.

Trump said the US and its allies are safer as a result of his death.

"We will continue to protect the American people by tracking down and eliminating terrorists who seek to do us harm," Trump said.

While Trump confirmed reports that al-Rimi had been killed, he did not say when the US operation was conducted or offer any details about how it was carried out.

Al-Rimi had said in an 18-minute video that his group was responsible for the December 6 shooting in Pensacola. He called the shooter, Saudi Air Force officer Mohammed Alshamrani, a "courageous knight" and a "hero". The shooter opened fire inside a classroom at the base, killing three people and wounding two others before he was killed. Eight other people were also hurt.

The shooting focused public attention on the presence of foreign students in American military training programs and exposed shortcomings in the screening of cadets. In January, the US sent home 21 Saudi military students, saying the trainees had jihadist or anti-American sentiments on social media pages or had "contact with child pornography", including in internet chat rooms.

Trump's announcement confirmed earlier indications that al-Rimi had been killed. In late January, a suspected US drone strike destroyed a building housing al-Qaeda militants in eastern Yemen. Last week, Trump retweeted several other tweets and media reports that seemed to offer confirmation that the strike had killed al-Rimi.