mobanmarketWASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump says the U.S. has killed Jamal al-Badawi, the leader of the attack on the USS Cole.
“Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole,” Trump tweeted Sunday.
He added that work against al-Qaeda continues and that the U.S. will never stop its fight against what he called “Radical Islamic Terrorism.”
Trump’s announcement comes days after an American airstrike targeted al-Badawi, an al-Qaida operative, The Associated Press reported.
On Oct. 12, 2000, suicide bombers attacked the Cole, a guide-missile destroyer, in an explosives-laden boat as it was refueling at the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen sailors were killed and another 39 were hurt.
A U.S. grand jury indicted Al-Badawi in 2003. He was charged him with 50 counts of various terrorism offenses, including murder of U.S. nationals and murder of U.S. military personnel.
Photos credit: U.S. Navy/Getty Images; Stefan Zaklin/Getty Images