Qassim al-Rimi, the leader of al-Qaida in Yemen, reportedly taunted President Donald Trump in a recently released audio recording.
Some military and intelligence officials said al-Rimi, who has been the head of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula since 2015, was the target of the U.S.-led raid in Yemen on Jan. 29, NBC News reported.
Al-Rimi reportedly taunted the president in an audio message.
“The fool of the White House got slapped at the beginning of his road in your lands,” al-Rimi said in the audio message, appearing to make a reference to the raid, according to NBC News.
According to The Associated Press, the recording couldn't be verified immediately, "but the voice was similar to that of previous recordings by al-Rimi."
In the message, which was released by the SITE Intelligence Group on Saturday, Rimi said “dozens of Americans were killed and wounded,” CNN noted.
But the Pentagon said Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens accounted for the only American death during the raid, while several other SEALs were wounded, and some civilians, including women and children, were killed, according to The Washington Post.
Col. John Thomas, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, denied that al-Rimi was a target of the raid.
"There was no discussion of al-Rimi potentially being at that objective," Thomas said, according to NBC News. "We didn't expect to see him there. We didn't plan for him to be there, and this was not a raid that had anything to do with targeting that individual."
Pentagon's chief spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis also denied that al-Rimi was a focus of the raid, NBC News reported.
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