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| US neutralizes top al-Qaeda leader in Yemen… 5 years after ‘promoting’ him with previous drone strike | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The commander of al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Qasim al-Raymi, was killed in a counter-terrorism raid in Yemen, US President Donald Trump has stated, but the group is unlikely to disappear anytime soon. | |
| “Under Rimi, AQAP committed unconscionable violence against civilians in Yemen and sought to conduct and inspire numerous attacks against the United States and our forces,” the president said in a statement on Thursday. | |
| Though President Trump did not clarify when the operation was carried out, unconfirmed reports about al-Raymi’s death emerged earlier this week, with some suggesting the terrorist leader was killed in a US drone strike. | |
| Al-Raymi was propelled to the highest leadership role in AQAP in 2015 following the death of its previous figurehead, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, who was killed in a similar American operation. At the time, some analysts warned that celebrating al-Wuhayshi’s death was a “flawed” reaction, noting that more radical elements tend to take over when previous commanders are taken out. | |
| The White House nonetheless hailed the assassination, saying it was another step toward “degrading and ultimately defeating these groups.” | |
| Under al-Raymi – reported to be more dangerous and aggressive than his predecessor, favoring brutal tactics such as suicide bombings – AQAP called for stepped up attacks against the US, urging members to “direct and gather your arrows and swords against [America].” | |
| A founding member of AQAP, al-Raymi joined the broader al-Qaeda network in the 1990s and worked closely with leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, at times in Afghanistan. He has been tied to a number of deadly attacks, including a 2007 suicide bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists in Yemen. | |
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