A terrorist behind the attack on the USS Cole has been killed in an airstrike, Donald Trump has confirmed.
Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali al Badawi was an al Qaeda operative who the US believes helped orchestrate the October 12, 2000, attack on the destroyer.
Seventeen American sailors died in the attack.
Mr Trump tweeted: "Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole.
"We have just killed the leader of that attack, Jamal al Badawi. Our work against al Qaeda continues. We will never stop in our fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism!"
An official said on Friday that intelligence indicated that al Badawi was killed in a strike in Yemen as a result of a joint US military and intelligence operation but it was not confirmed.
Suicide bombers took a boatload packed with explosives to the vessel and blew a massive hole in the side.
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The USS Cole was refuelling in the Yemen port of Aden at the time.
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