U.S. forces kill al-Qaeda leader

Qassem al-Rimi, who claimed responsibility for a shooting at a Florida military base, is dead. President Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed a U.S. counterterrorism operation in Yemen killed the founder of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). In a recently released video, al-Rimi called Saudi Air Force officer Mohammed Alshamrani a “courageous knight” for the December attack that killed three American soldiers at the U.S. Navy air base in Pensacola, Fla.

How does this affect the war on terror? AQAP has long been considered the network’s most dangerous branch because of its efforts to stage attacks in the United States. U.S. officials did not confirm when the operation against al-Rimi occurred or any other details. According to a White House statement, his death “further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qaeda movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security.”

Dig deeper: Read details about the Pensacola attack in Mindy Belz’s Globe Trot.