The White House on Thursday confirmed that the United States had killed Qasim al-Rimi, the leader of al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen.
“At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation in Yemen that successfully eliminated Qasim al-Rimi,” a White House statement said, without specifying when it took place.
The New York Times had reported days before that al-Rimi was killed in an airstrike in January.
Under al-Rimi, al-Qaeda in Yemen “committed unconscionable violence” the White House statement said, adding that the group “sought to conduct and inspire numerous attacks against the United States and our forces.”
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The U.S. State Department had a 10 million dollar reward on information leading to al-Rimi’s capture, and had linked him to a 2008 attack on the U.S. embassy in Sana’a and a plot to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner.
“The United States, our interests, and our allies are safer as a result of his death,” the White House added.
According to the White House, al-Rimi joined al-Qaeda in the 1990s, working in Afghanistan for Osama Bin Laden.
He was considered a potential successor to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Al-Rimi is the third major figure to be killed in a U.S. strike in recent months.
In October, the U.S. killed Islamic State founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and in January Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was killed on President Trump’s orders. (NAN)
