The White House announced on Thursday evening that under the Trump Administration’s direction, two more major terrorist leaders were eliminated.
“At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation in Yemen that successfully eliminated Qasim al-Rimi, a founder and the leader of al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and a deputy to al-Qa’ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Rimi joined al-Qa’ida in the 1990s, working in Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden,” The White House said in a statement. “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.”
“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 statement continued. “The United States, our interests, and our 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.”
Qassim al-Rimi was reportedly killed in an airstrike in Yemen. The U.S. government had offered a $10 million reward for information on Rimi.
Rimi’s “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 White House said in a statement Thursday. “The United States, our interests, and our 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.”
The New York Times reported on Sunday that al-Rimi had claimed credit for the December 6 Islamic terrorist attack on Naval Air Station Pensacola where three U.S. sailors were killed and eight other Americans sustained severe injuries.