Militant Suspected Of USS Cole Bombing Is Killed In U.S. Airstrike, Trump Says

President Trump and U.S. Central Command on Sunday confirmed that a United States airstrike in Yemen has killed one of the militants believed to be behind the deadly USS Cole bombing in 2000.

Jamal al-Badawi, an al-Qaida commander, was on the FBI’s most wanted list for his part in the attack. Seventeen American sailors died in the bombing, which came when two suicide attackers in a small boat detonated explosives as the Navy destroyer was refueling in Yemen’s Aden harbor. The blast left a gaping hole in the side of the Cole. Nearly 40 others were injured in the attack.

“Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole,” President Trump tweeted on Sunday. “We have just killed the leader of that attack, Jamal al-Badawi. Our work against al Qaeda continues. We will never stop in our fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism!”

U.S. military officials had previously announced they targeted al-Badawi in a “precision strike” in Yemen on New Year’s Day. They said there was no collateral damage.

“Jamal al-Badawi was a legacy al Qaeda operative in Yemen,” said Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command. “U.S. forces confirmed the results of the strike following a deliberate assessment process.”

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