Remember when the media mocked President Trump when he campaigned on decimating ISIS? As usual, when it comes to following through on campaign promises, Trump has over-delivered.
According to top Pentagon sources, a top al-Qaeda terror leader who previously mocked President Donald Trump was a target in a recent US airstrike in Yemen.
In November, CIA personnel learned of Qassim al-Rimi location from an informant.
According to a U.S. official who was briefed on the strike, the government then started using surveillance drones to track him the terrorist leader.
Donald Trump Jr. just tweeted a link to an article from the New York Times about the Al Qaeda leader in Yemen being killed, saying, “Another one bites the dust.” and “Thanks, Donald Trump for taking the fight to these monsters and taking out their leadership one by one. Amazing work.”
Another one bites the dust. Thanks @realDonaldTrump for taking the fight to these monsters and taking out their leadership one by one. Amazing work.
U.S. Strikes at Leader of Qaeda in Yemen – The New York Times https://t.co/4IGKrijkVR
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 1, 2020
The Daily Mail reports – The United States carried out an airstrike in January that killed a leader of Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen after months of tracking him, according to current and former government officials.
Qassim al-Rimi, 41, was killed in the January strike but officials had been waiting to confirm the information before making a public statement, the New York Times reports.
U.S. officials have taken the gentle approach when announcing the success of this particular drone strike as they have learned in the past that they were too quick to do so for other CIA drone strikes.
While military officials said they weren’t aware of any other attacks, both the CIA and the National Security Council would not comment.
Qassim al-Rimi ridiculed President Trump in 2017 after a failed US military strike: “The fool of the White House got slapped at the beginning of his road in your lands.”
The video clip below from 2017 after the failed strike:
President Trump seemed to confirm the death of Al-Rimi in his retweets outlining the death of Qasim al-Rimi, the al-Qaeda terrorist group leader, by Rita Katz, the director of the SITE Intelligence group:
2)Will be interesting to see which #AQAP official warranted the intel & military resources required to carry out a precise U.S. drone attack…AQAP in recent years has dwindled. As it stands now, top publicly known officials are leader Qassim al-Rimi and official Ibrahim al-Qosi. pic.twitter.com/GlGgygCqgB
— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) January 27, 2020
3)Breaking: It appears that Qasim al-Rimi, leader of the Yemen-based #AQAP, was the individual targeted & killed in a U.S. drone strike on Saturday, January 25 in Wadi Ubaidah, east of #Sanaa – a longtime stronghold for the group. AQAP has yet to officially confirm his death. pic.twitter.com/ohDcH2d8wz
— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) January 30, 2020
4)If true, and it seems to be, the dead of al-Rimi would mark a major blow to #AlQaeda on the whole. Al-Rimi was a candidate for succeeding AQ leader Zawahiri.
— Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) January 30, 2020
President Trump also retweeted a Yahoo News article by Sean D. Naylor that states “US killed a top al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, reports say”
U.S. killed a top al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, reports say https://t.co/MVV9dTl721 via @Yahoo
— Sean D. Naylor (@SeanDNaylor) January 31, 2020
Al-Rimi had threatened to attack American targets.
The US government had offered $10 million as a reward for information about him.
If true, this marks a major blow to al-Qaeda.