Qassim Al Rimi
Fox News Flash top headlines for Jan. 31
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U.S. officials believe the leader of Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen was 'likely' killed by an American airstrike earlier this month, a well-placed source told Fox News Friday.
Qasim al-Raymi was a U.S.-designated terrorist and the emir (leader) of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, (AQAP). He filled this position on June 16, 2015, one day after former AQAP leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi died in a U.S. Drone strike.“Designations of AQAP Leaders Qasim al-Rimi and Nayif al-Qahtani,” U.S. Department of State, May 11, 2010.
- Assassination of Qassim al-Rimi—the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula—represents the end of Al-Qaeda 'as we know it,' according to an expert who has studied the terrorist.
- A cofounder of the group, Qassim Al-Rimi, claimed AQAP responsibility for the shooting at Pensacola Naval Base on December 6, 2019 by a Saudi national. AQAP is based in Yemen, and a $10 million reward was posted for information on al-Rimi.
Qassim al-Rimi is believed to have died as a result of the attack but his death has not been confirmed. The airstrike was first reported by The New York Times.
Rimi's Yemen-based network, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), is considered to be the most dangerous branch of the global terror group since its creation in 2009.
The CIA learned of al-Rimi's location from an informant in Yemen in November, according to the Times, and began tracking him through aerial surveillance and other means.
The U.S. government issued a $10 million reward for terrorist leader Qassim al-Rimi. (Rewards for Justice)
The CIA did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.
Rimi, 41, became the leader of AQAP when Nasir al-Wuhayshi was killed in a 2015 drone strike.
He previously trained in Afghanistan before returning to Yemen where he was sentenced to five years in prison for plotting to kill an American ambassador. He broke out of prison and rose through the ranks of the group.
In 2017, Rimi released an audio recording mocking President Trump, calling him the 'White House's new fool.' The message came days after a U.S.-led raid against AQAP killed 25 people, including 11 women and children.
The State Department had offered a $10 million bounty for al-Rimi, who was linked to numerous plots against U.S. interest, The New York Times reported.
The CIA believes he was involved in the 2008 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Sana that killed 10 guards and four civilians. He is also suspected of having links to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called 'underwear bomber' who attempted to down a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight with plastic explosives on Christmas Day in 2009.
The Al Qaeda affiliate claimed to have organized the attack and supplied him with the bomb.
The airstrike comes in the same month the U.S. targeted Iranian Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who American claimed was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. troops during the Iraq War.
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
A leader of AQAP – Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – was killed in a counter-terrorism operation in Yemen, according to President Trump in a statement on Thursday evening. AQAP is reportedly one of the most dangerous of the terrorist organizations. A cofounder of the group, Qassim Al-Rimi, claimed AQAP responsibility for the shooting at Pensacola Naval Base on December 6, 2019 by a Saudi national. Now he is dead.
Qassim Al Rimi Drone Strike
AQAP is based in Yemen, and a $10 million reward was posted for information on al-Rimi. According to Pittsburgh’s WTAE,
“While not on the same level as Baghdadi and Soleimani, the death of the leader of AQAP is still a significant moment. Rimi had been a U.S. target since early in Trump’s tenure. Rimi was a target of a January 2017 raid on an al Qaeda compound in Yemen that led to the first U.S. military combat death under the president, a senior U.S. military official told CNN at the time.
Rimi taunted Trump and condemned the operation in an 11-minute recording days after the raid, saying that ‘the new fool of the White House received a painful slap across his face.'”
Who’s laughing now?
On Sunday, Qasim al-Rimi, a cofounder of al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack at NAS Pensacola in December.
Today, Qasim al-Rimi is dead. (1/3)
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) February 7, 2020
The Military Times reported,
Al-Rimi had said in an 18-minute video that his group was responsible for the Dec. 6 shooting at the base. He called the shooter, Saudi Air Force officer Mohammed Alshamrani, a “courageous knight” and a “hero.” The shooter opened fire inside a classroom at the base, killing three people and wounding two sheriff’s deputies before one of the deputies killed him. Eight others were also hurt.
The shooting focused public attention on the presence of foreign students in American military training programs and exposed shortcomings in the screening of cadets. In January, the U.S. sent home 21 Saudi military students, saying the trainees had jihadist or anti-American sentiments on social media pages or had “contact with child pornography,” including in internet chat rooms.
Trump’s announcement confirmed earlier indications that al-Rimi had been killed. In late January, a suspected U.S. drone strike destroyed a building housing al-Qaida militants in eastern Yemen. Also, on Feb. 1, Trump retweeted several other tweets and media reports that seemed to offer confirmation that the strike had killed al-Rimi.
No details were given on the operation that took out Al-Rimi. But The Trump administration is systematically taking out the terrorists that threaten our troops and citizens. They took out al-Baghdadi, Soleimani, al-Muhajir, and Bin Laden’s son Hamza. One unsuccessful attempt to remove Iranian IRGC leader Abdul Reza Shahlai the same day as Soleimani may simply be a temporary setback.
“Our message to the terrorists is clear: You will never escape American justice. If you attack our citizens, you forfeit your life.” President Trump, the State Of The Union address
They can run, but they can’t hide.
Featured photo: Qassim Al-Rimi, a cofounder of al-Qaeda in Yemen via Benzinga screenshot of al-Qaeda video
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Al Qaeda Leader 2020
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