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(CNN) - US President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday that Al Qaeda's main bomb maker and terrorist coordinator Ibrahim al-Asiri was killed two years ago by US forces in Yemen.
The White House made the announcement when the president faces a news cycle dominated by bipartisan criticism of his decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria and new developments in the controversy over Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to obtain information Comprehensive about his political rivals, something that has led him to an investigation that could take him to political trial.
Al-Asiri was widely credited with perfecting miniature bombs with little or no metal content that could pass some airport security tests. That ability made him a direct threat to the United States, and some of his plots had been close to achieving their US targets.
- Disturbing video shows a high-level al Qaeda meeting in Yemen
It is believed that the bomb maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, was responsible for several attempted attacks against the United States, including the failed attack on Christmas Day in 2009 in Detroit.
The Saudi militant became known as the "underwear bomber" after building explosive devices used in a failed 2009 Christmas bomb plan aimed at shooting down a plane bound for Detroit. Al-Asiri was also responsible for another plot targeting cargo planes bound for the United States in 2010 with explosives hidden in printer cartridges.
Plot against aviation
“Al-Asiri's death significantly harmed Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The United States will continue to persecute terrorists like al-Asiri until they no longer pose a threat to our great nation, ”Trump wrote Wednesday.
In August 2018, CNN reported that US officials expressed "confidence" that al-Asiri was killed in an anti-terrorism operation.
A UN report published last month also said that al-Asiri had probably been killed.
Since mid-2017, the organization has suffered losses of leadership and field commanders due to extensive Yemeni and international anti-terrorist operations, ”said a June 2018 report by the Sanctions Monitoring and Analytical Support Team. "Some Member States report that explosives expert Ibrahim al-Asiri ... may have been killed during the second half of 2017. Given al-Asiri's past role in conspiracies against aviation, this would represent a serious blow to operational capacity" .
However, few expect al-Asiri's experience to die with him.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/10/politics/guliani-client-arrested-campaign-finance/index.htmlnuevCNN previously reported that officials believe it trained several apprentices. And since 2014, US officials have been concerned that the experience in bomb manufacturing accumulated by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has migrated to other groups, including al Qaeda in Syria.
In addition to serving as a bomb maker, al-Asiri had assumed a more public role within Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in recent years, including allegedly recording a speech the group launched in 2016.
The most recent public statement attributed to him was a written speech released by the group on September 12, 2017, to coincide with the 16th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The speech promised an ongoing war against the United States.
CNN cannot independently verify that it has written these statements.
- Barbara Starr of CNN contributed reporting
Al Qaeda
