Washington, Jan 6 (EFE).- President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed the death of the Al Qaeda terrorist who allegedly planned the attack against the USS Cole, killing 17 sailors in 2000.
“We have just killed the leader of that attack, Jamal al-Badawi. Our work against al Qaeda continues,” said Trump on Twitter.
The president hailed the “great” US Armed Forces who “delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole.”
“We will never stop in our fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism!” he emphasized in the same tweet.
A spokesperson for the US Central Command on Thursday had informed EFE of the possibility that Al Badawi might have been killed during a joint CIA-US Army operation in Yemen last Tuesday.
Information made public at that time by CNN, citing government sources, said that the terrorist was killed while driving alone in a vehicle and no collateral damage resulted from the hit.
Al Badawi was on the FBI’s most wanted terrorist list and was charged by a federal grand jury in 2003 with assorted terrorism crimes, including murdering US citizens and military personnel.
In addition to being hunted for his role in the Oct. 12, 2000, terrorist attack on the USS Cole, Al Badawi had also been charged with trying to attack another US Navy vessel in January 2000.