Security Brief
The Al-Qaeda branch in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) finally confirmed the death of its leader, Qasim al-Rimi. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month had confirmed that al-Rimi was killed in a U.S. counter terrorism operation in Yemen where the U.S. has carried out drone campaigns against AQAP for several years.
Under al-Rimi leadership, AQAP committed horrifying violence against civilians in Yemen and sought to conduct and inspire numerous attacks against the United States and its forces. The death of al-Rimi is a huge blow to Al-Qaeda and further degrades AQAP further.
The Yemeni-based AQAP is an affiliate of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda and is considered as one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist groups.
Qasim al-Rimi was one of 23 Al-Qaeda prisoners who escaped in 2006 from a Yemen prison and has been linked to several high-profile terrorist operations targeting Americans. He also led AQAP in the 2015 attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical French magazine.
AQAP also announced that al-Rimi’s deputy, Khalid Battarfi, has taken over as the new AQAP leader.
Al-Rimi is the third major terrorist killed in the United States counter terrorism operations in recent months.
