Top al-Qaeda bomb maker behind failed 2009 plot to blow up US-bound commercial airliner was killed two years ago in counter-terrorism operation in Yemen, Trump confirms
- President Trump has confirmed al-Qaeda’s top bomb-maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, is dead
- The terrorist was killed in a 2017 counter-terrorism operation conducted by the US in Yemen
- al-Asiri, who was born in Saudi Arabia, was the brains behind the failed ‘Underwear Bomber’ attack of 2009
- During that attempted attack, a Nigerian man tried to detonate a bomb in his underwear while on board a commercial flight from Amsterdam to Detroit
- Trump said Thursday that al-Asiri’s death has significantly handicapped al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that al Qaeda’s top bomb-maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri has been killed
Donald Trump has confirmed that al Qaeda’s top bomb-maker was killed in a a 2017 US counter-terrorism operation in Yemen.
Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri was long wanted by American authorities for being the mastermind behind the failed 2009 plot to blow up a US- bound airplane.
In a statement released by the White House on Thursday, the Commander-in-chief called al-Asiri’s death a victory in America’s long fight against terrorism.
‘The United States will continue to hunt down terrorists like al-Asiri until they no longer pose a threat to our great Nation,’ Trump stated.
The President did not reveal details of the operation which took out al-Asiri, nor did he explain why he has now chosen to make the news public.
US officials said last year they were confident al-Asiri had been killed but others had said at the time that the evidence was not conclusive.
President Donald Trump announced the news in a statement on Thursday
Trump says the death of al-Asiri has significantly handicapped al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The noted terrorist was a Saudi-born militant with al Qaeda’s Yemen branch, and was known for his ability to create hard-to-detect bombs.
Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is serving multiple life sentences in prison for trying to set off the bomb in his underwear on the US- bound flight
According to CNN, al-Asiri perfected miniaturized bombs with no metal content, meaning that they could easily go undetected during airport security screenings.
al-Asiri’s activities kept airports on tenterhooks for edge for yars, and at times forced the suspension of flights across the Atlantic, AFP reports.
al-Asiri is most notorious for being the mastermind behind the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing of a passenger jet flying from Amsterdam to Detroit.
On that flight, Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate an explosive device concealed in his underwear.
However, the bomb failed to explode and Abdulmutallab was tackled to the ground by a fellow passenger.
He is serving multiple life sentences in Colorado’s supermax prison, ADX Florence.
Bomber shorts: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab wore this underwear outfitted with explosives for three weeks before the failed bomb attempt on Christmas Day 2009
In 2010, less than a year later, al-Asiri was linked to another foiled bomb plot against the United States.
Investigators discovered printer cartridges packed with PETN and sent by an international courier with Chicago-area synagogues listed as the destination.
The explosive-rigged packages – believed powerful enough to bring down a plane – were pulled off airplanes in England and the United Arab Emirates.
Al-Asiri then became a major focus of America’s anti-terrorism efforts.
In March 2011, Washington officially designated him as a wanted terrorist, and confirmed that he was the primary bombmaker for al-Qaeda.
He is also believed to have built an explosive device intended to be used against a passenger aircraft in 2012.
Al-Asiri was born in 1982 in Saudi Arabia to a military family and has been accused of recruiting his younger brother, Abdulla, as a suicide bomber for a failed 2009 attack on Prince Mohammed bin Nayef of Saudi Arabia.
Trump said Thursday al- Asiti was killed in a 2017 US counter-terrorism operation in Yemen