Al Qaeda’s Yemen Branch Confirms U.S. Missile Strike Killed Leader

The second-ranking official of Al Qaeda, Nasser al-Wuhayshi, in Yemen in 2012.CreditAgence France-Presse — Getty Images

Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen released a video statement early on Tuesday confirming the death of its leader,Nasser al-Wuhayshi, in an American missile strike.

Mr. Wuhayshi, 38, who had led Qaeda operations in Yemen since 2002 and was also the global extremist network’s second-ranking leader, was killed along with two other operatives, the statement said.

The group said that its military commander, Qassim al-Raimi, had been chosen as Mr. Wuhayshi’s successor.

“Let it be known to the enemies of God that their battle is not only with one person or figure, no matter how important,” a senior Qaeda operative said in the statement. “To the infidel America: God has kept alive those who will trouble your life and make you taste the bitterness of defeat.”
American counterterrorism officials were certain to view the killing of Mr. Wuhayshi as a major victory. He built the affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, into what was seen as the global organization’s most active branch and the most dangerous threat against the United States, even thought its attempts to blow up airliners over American soil have failed.

But his death also comes as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has grown more powerful in Yemen, capitalizing on civil war to capture territory and forge new alliances with Sunni tribes to fight the Houthis, a Shiite rebel group that controls large parts of the country.

In early April, Al Qaeda seized control of Al Mukalla, Yemen’s fifth-largest city, reportedly capturing millions of dollars from the vaults of the central bank there. Local news media in Yemen said that Mr. Wuhayshi was killed in the city last week by a missile strike that killed three Qaeda operatives by the beach.

In addition to the strike against Mr. Wuhayshi, attacks thought to have been American missile strikes have killed several senior Qaeda operatives in Yemen over the last few months.