The White House had confirmed that two top Al Qaeda terrorists were killed in an airstrike in Yemen last month. The two slain terrorists are Qasim al-Rimi, a founder and leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and deputy to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

In an official statement, the White House discussed the successful mission. “At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, the United States conducted a counterterrorism operation in Yemen that successfully eliminated Qasim al-Rimi, a founder and the leader of al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and a deputy to al-Qa’ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Rimi joined al-Qa’ida in the 1990s, working in Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden.”

The statement continued “Under Rimi, AQAP committed unconscionable violence against civilians in Yemen and sought to conduct and inspire numerous attacks against the United States and our forces. His death further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qa’ida movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security.”

Finally, the administration claimed that the death of the two top Al Qaeda terrorists will make America and its allies safer.

“The United States, our interests, and our allies are safer as a result of his death. We will continue to protect the American people by tracking down and eliminating terrorists who seek to do us harm,” the statement read.

The reports said that the mission headed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) targeted al-Rimi. Back on February 1 of this year, Tribal leaders in Yemen claimed that a U.S. drone strike destroyed the building where the militants stayed.

However, this is not the first attempt that was made to capture al-Rimi. In 2017, a raid by the Navy Seal captured the terrorist, but al-Rimi escaped during the firefight.

On the other hand, Al-Zawahiri has been listed as one of theU.S most wanted terrorists and had a reward of $25 million in exchange for information.

Al-Zawahiri had been alleged for his role in the bombing of U.S. embassies Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya in 1998. The bombings had killed 24 people, including 12 Americans.

“Under Rimi, AQAP committed unconscionable violence against civilians in Yemen and sought to conduct and inspire numerous attacks against the United States and our forces,” the White House said.

Reports also claimed that the administration had also targeted another terrorist, Abdul Reza Shahlai, one of the most powerful officials in Iran’s Quds Force, and known for being a key financier for Iran’s proxy wars. However, the airstrike was unsuccessful. As the New York Times reported that “The disclosure of a second mission indicated that the Trump administration was attempting to target a larger set of Iranian military and paramilitary leaders than was previously known.”