This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51409581
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 2 | Version 3 |
---|---|
Yemen Al-Qaeda leader al-Raymi killed by US strike | Yemen Al-Qaeda leader al-Raymi killed by US strike |
(32 minutes later) | |
The United States has killed the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), President Donald Trump said. | The United States has killed the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), President Donald Trump said. |
Qasim al-Raymi, who has led the jihadist group since 2015, was killed in a US operation in Yemen, the White House said. | Qasim al-Raymi, who has led the jihadist group since 2015, was killed in a US operation in Yemen, the White House said. |
The jihadist leader had been linked to a series of attacks on Western interests in the 2000s. | The jihadist leader had been linked to a series of attacks on Western interests in the 2000s. |
He took over the leadership after his predecessor was killed by a US drone strike. | He took over the leadership after his predecessor was killed by a US drone strike. |
AQAP was formed in 2009 from two regional offshoots of Al-Qaeda in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, with the goal of toppling US-backed governments and eliminating all Western influence in the region. | |
Rumours of Raymi's death began circulating in late January. In response, AQAP released an audio message with Raymi's voice on 2 February in which he said AQAP was behind a deadly shooting at a US naval base in Pensacola, Florida. | |
The shooting took place in December, and the message may have been recorded earlier. | The shooting took place in December, and the message may have been recorded earlier. |
The statement from the White House confirmed Raymi's death but it did not say when he was killed. | |
"His death further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qaeda movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security," the statement read. | "His death further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qaeda movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security," the statement read. |
"The United States, our interests, and our allies are safer as a result of his death." | "The United States, our interests, and our allies are safer as a result of his death." |
Raymi was a trainer at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in the 1990s . He travelled to Yemen in 2004, where he was imprisoned for five years in connection with a plot to attack five foreign embassies in the capital. | |
He is believed to have overseen the formation of al-Qaeda in Yemen. | |
US officials once described AQAP as "the most active operational franchise" of al-Qaeda beyond Pakistan and Afghanistan. | |
Most of its attacks have been in Yemen, where it has taken advantage of political instability that has plagued the country for years. | |
It is thought to have been behind a large number of attacks in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, in which hundreds of people have have been killed, as well as a series of sophisticated airline bomb plots targeting the US that were narrowly foiled. |