Ship attack plotter reportedly killed

The U.S. military killed a suspected al-Qaida operative believed to have orchestrated an attack on the USS Cole in 2000, President Donald Trump said Sunday.

Trump said U.S. forces “delivered justice” by killing Jamal al-Badawi. The attack on the Cole killed 17 U.S. sailors. “Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole,” Trump said in a Twitter post.

U.S. Central Command confirmed later Sunday that al-Badawi was killed in a “precision strike” in Yemen on Tuesday.

Al-Badawi was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2003 on 50 counts of various terrorism offenses, including murder of U.S. nationals and military personnel.

The October 12, 2000, attack on the Cole took place when the ship was anchored in the Yemeni port of Aden.