Qasim al-Raymi

Qasim al-Raymi, AKA Qassim al-Rimi (5 June 1978 - 29 January 2020) was the emir of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from the assassination of his predecessor Nasir al-Wuhayshi in 2015 to his own assassination in 2020.

Career
al-Raymi worked as a trainer in an Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan until the 1990s, when he returned to his home country of Yemen. He was later imprisoned for five years for training jihadists responsible for a series of Suicide Bombings in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a in 2004. On 3rd February 2006, al-Raymi, Nasir al-Wuhayshi and 21 other Al-Qaeda members escaped from the prison they were being held in. al-Raymi and al-Wuhayshi subsequently oversaw the formation of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, which claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in Sana'a and an assault on the US embassy in Sana'a which killed fourteen.

In January 2009, al-Raymi, al-Wuhayshi, Mohamed Al Harbi and Sa'id Al Shihri appeared in a video announcing the foundation of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). al-Raymi was introduced as the military commander of AQAP, al-Wuhayshi as the emir of the group, Al Shihri as the deputy leader and Al Harbi as a field commander.

On 3rd February 2009, the Saudi Arabian government published a list of wanted terrorists. Number #68 was "Qassem al-Rimi" (Qasim al-Raymi), who was listed as being linked to Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. A few days later, an unnamed Saudi official sent documents to the Associated Press naming al-Raymi as being involved in planning the assault on the US embassy in Sana'a. On 11th May 2010, the US Department of State designated al-Raymi as a global terrorist, issuing a five million dollar reward for information leading to his capture. He was also named as one of the masterminds of the 2009 suicide bombing attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and coordinated the 2013 Sana'a attack, although he did apologise for an assault on a hospital that occurred, claiming that the attackers had been specifically ordered not to attack the hospital but had ignored the order.

On 16th June 2015, several days after al-Wuhayshi's assassination by the US government, AQAP commander Khalid Bartafi revealed that al-Raymi had succeeded him. al-Raymi swore allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri on 8th July, praising the successes of Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra Front and the Army of Conquest.

On 18th October 2016, a US airstrike destroyed al-Raymi's home, killing five of his associates and injuring al-Raymi himself. The reward for his capture was later increased to $10 million.

On 29th January 2017, US President Donald Trump launched the Yakla raid, a special operations strike in an attempt to kill al-Raymi. During the failed raid, one US Navy SEAL, William Owens, was killed and several civilians were killed or wounded, such as the eight-year-old daughter of Al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki. al-Raymi survived, and later released a video taunting President Trump about his survival.

On 31st January 2020, The New York Times reported that three government officials had stated that al-Raymi had been killed in a drone strike in Yakla on the direct orders of President Trump. On February 1st, president Trump appeared to confirm this report on Twitter. al-Raymi was later confirmed dead on February 6th.