A notorious al Qaeda terrorist linked to the USS Cole bombing in 2000 was killed in an airstrike last week, President Trump confirmed on Sunday.
“Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole. We have just killed the leader of that attack, Jamal al-Badawi. Our work against al Qaeda continues. We will never stop in our fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism!” Trump tweeted.
Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole. We have just killed the leader of that attack, Jamal al-Badawi. Our work against al Qaeda continues. We will never stop in our fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2019
The Pentagon said Friday that al-Badawi had been targeted in a precision strike launched this month in Yemen, but it had been unclear whether al-Badawi, one of the FBI’s most wanted terrorists, survived the offensive conducted while he was traveling alone.
“We are aware of reports that Jamal al-Badawi was killed in a strike in Yemen,” Capt. Bill Urban, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said in a statement last week. “U.S. forces conducted a precision strike Jan. 1st in the Marib governate, Yemen, targeting Jamal al-Badawi, a legacy al Qaeda operative in Yemen involved in the USS Cole bombing. U.S. forces are still assessing the results of the strike following a deliberate process to confirm his death.”
Al-Badawi, who had escaped a Yemeni prison, was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in 2003 and charged with 50 counts of terrorism offenses. He was also sought by authorities over the USS Cole attack, in which suicide bombers in Yemen killed 17 sailors and injured another 39 near the U.S. destroyer.
