President Trump is confirming that al Qaeda’s chief bomb maker was killed in an American operation in Yemen two years ago.
After the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, Ibrahim al-Asiri was considered by some analysts to be the world’s most dangerous terrorist for his innovative bomb designs.
He was behind the “underwear bomb,” which nearly brought down an American airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009, and he was responsible for hiding explosive devices in printer cartridges.
Trump said al-Asiri died in a counterterrorism operation in Yemen.
“Al-Asiri’s death significantly handicapped al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,” he said. “The United States will continue to hunt down terrorists like al-Asiri until they no longer pose a threat to our great nation.”
His underwear plot only failed because the man executing it did not properly detonate the device.
In 2010, he also placed explosives inside printer cartridges that were being shipped to the U.S. The devices made there way past security screening in London but were eventually found following a tip.
Intelligence figures had previously said they believed he was killed in a drone strike.
