Donald Trump hails 'great military' amid reports that Al Qaeda leader behind 2000 attack on USS Cole was 'killed in airstrike'

Jamal al-Badawi is reported to have been killed in an airstrike
AFP/Getty Images
Jacob Jarvis7 January 2019

President Donald Trump has hailed the efforts of the US military as he claimed they had killed the leader of a fatal terror attack in 2000.

The President took to Twitter following an airstrike which is suspected to have killed Jamal al-Badawi, who was said to be an Al Qaeda commander.

He was convicted of helping plan the 2000 USS Cole bombing of a US naval vessel in Yemen which killed 17 American sailors, which Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for.

“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," President Trump said.

“Our work against al Qaeda continues. We will never stop in our fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism!”

It was reported previously that a precision air strike in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, had killed al-Badawi.

The US military said a coordinated hit had targeted a militant in Yemen believed to be one of the planners of a deadly bombing of the Navy destroyer USS Cole in 2000.

Donald Trump said it was "justice" for those killed in the 2000 terror attack
AP

However, it said the results of the strike were still being assessed on Friday.

US Central Command said in a statement the strike on January 1, in the Marib governate of Yemen, had targeted al-Badawi.

In 2003 he was indicted by a federal grand jury and was wanted for his role in the USS Cole attack.

He escaped from prison in Yemen twice, once in 2003 and again in 2006.

There is a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

The USS Cole attack also injured 39 people alongside those killed.

On October 12, 2000, two men in a small boat detonated explosives alongside the Navy guided missile destroyer as it was refueling in Aden.

The blast left a gaping hole in its hull.

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