The leader of al-Qaida in the Arabain Peninsula (AQAP), Qassim al-Rimi, released an audio recording in which he reportedly called President Donald Trump the “White House’s new fool” while speaking about a recent deadly U.S. raid against the group in Yemen which killed 25 civilians, including 11 women and children.
In the recording, which was released late Saturday, al-Rimi addressed his followers, saying: “The White House’s new fool has received a painful blow at your hands in his first outing on your land.”
The raid took place Jan. 29 and the recording claimed many U.S. soldiers were also killed and wounded during the operation. It was President Trump’s first counter-terrorism offensive that killed more than a dozen terrorists and also U.S. Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William Ryan Owens. The casualties included the 8-year old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American al-Qaida leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011.
The Pentagon initially said it could not confirm reports on the number of casualties after the raid took place in remote Bayda province in southern Yemen. However, it acknowledged Feb. 1 that civilians were “likely killed” in the raid.
This raid and the following civilian casualties have led to widespread anger across Yemen against Trump, adding to the controversy over his executive order on immigration which restricts citizens of Yemen and six other majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
“What happened caused more anger and hatred toward America. America has no right to carry out any military action in our country. This a serious violation for our country’s sovereignty and is totally unacceptable,” Bassam Mahmoud, a government employee in Sanaa, said.
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