The al-Qaeda leader who was reportedly targeted by the raid in Yemen by U.S. forces released an audio tape mocking President Trump. The raid was the first military action under Trump and resulted in the first U.S. military death under his leadership.
Breaking: the deadly US raid in #Yemen raid last week targeted #AQAP leader Qassim al-Rimi, Sr. US Military officials tells me
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 6, 2017
Watch the report from CNN below:
BREAKING: Yemen raid targeted #ALQAEDA leader. He survived, now taunts @potus w audio tape https://t.co/nNfu54EslR https://t.co/mAUG1RvOTU
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) February 7, 2017
More from NBC News:
The Navy SEAL raid in Yemen last week had a secret objective — the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who survived and is now taunting President Donald Trump in an audio message.
Military and intelligence officials told NBC News the goal of the massive operation was to capture or kill Qassim al-Rimi, considered the third most dangerous terrorist in the world and a master recruiter.
But while one SEAL, 14 al Qaeda fighters and civilians including an 8-year-old girl were killed during a firefight, al-Rimi is still alive and in Yemen, multiple military officials said.
On Sunday, al-Rimi — who landed on the U.S. most-wanted terrorist list after taking over al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate in 2015 — released an audio recording that military sources said is authentic.
“The fool of the White House got slapped at the beginning of his road in your lands,” he said in an apparent reference to the Jan. 29 raid.
You can bet this will piss off Trump… or he’ll completely ignore it. He really is completely unpredictable.
Here’s another report from CNN: