The Pentagon on Tuesday denied published reports that a U.S. commando raid against an al Qaeda compound in Yemen on Jan. 29 secretly targeted a top terrorist leader who escaped only to taunt the U.S. in an audio recording.
“I can tell you it’s not true,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. “It’s certainly somebody we are interested in, certainly somebody who has good reason to be very concerned about our interest in him, but there was never any intention, hope, anticipation or plan he would be part of this operation.
NBC News citing “military and intelligence officials” claimed Qasim al-Rimi was the real target of the raid conducted in a remote area of Yemen.
U.S. officials continue to say the raid produced “actionable intelligence,” and despite the loss of a Navy SEAL and a V-22 aircraft, the mission was a success, and could help bring down the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula network in Yemen.
“What we learned there in Yemen from this raid is still being exploited,” Davis said, “but it is already yielding specific actionable information.”
Sources said the intelligence gathered included hard drives that are being decrypted and could provide leads to the whereabouts of al-Rimi and other high value targets.
“I don’t want to speculate,” Davis said, “but clearly he’s someone we have great interest in.”
