Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi, the terrorist behind the 2000 USS Cole bombing, was killed Tuesday in an airstrike, U.S. officials said. (FBI)
A terrorist the U.S. believes helped orchestrate the deadly October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole was reportedly killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen Tuesday, a U.S. administration official said.
Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi, a longtime al-Qaida operative who was on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists, was driving alone in a vehicle at the time of the strike, the official said.
Officials told CNN that the airstrike occurred in Yemen’s Ma’rib Governorate, and came as the result of a combined effort by U.S. military and intelligence agencies.
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Jamal al-Badawi, one of the terrorist behind the bombing of the USS Cole destroyer's bombing in 2000 in the Yemeni port of Aden, was killed Tuesday in an airstrike. Here al-Badawi gestures after an appeal court announced his judgement to 15 years in prison on 26 February 2005. He later escaped from prison in 2006. (PKHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images)
The Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Cole is shown at sea approximately one month before being attacked by a terrorist-suicide mission which killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured approximately 36 others during a refueling operation October 12, 2000 in the port of Aden, Yemen. Al-Qaeda's chief of Persian Gulf operations, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, also known as "Al Maqqi," has been captured, U.S. government officials said November 21, 2002. Al-Nashiri is believed to have been involved in planning numerous attacks, including the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, officials said. (Photo Courtesy of U.S. Navy/Getty Images)
A gaping hole mars the port side of the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Cole after a terrorist bomb exploded and killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured approximately 36 others during a refueling operation October 12, 2000 in the port of Aden, Yemen. Al-Qaeda's chief of Persian Gulf operations, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, also known as "Al Maqqi," has been captured, U.S. government officials said November 21, 2002. Al-Nashiri is believed to have been involved in planning numerous attacks, including the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, officials said. (Photo Courtesy of U.S. Navy/Getty Images)
This US Navy file photo shows US Navy and Marine Corps security personnel patrolling past the damaged US Navy destroyer USS Cole 18 October 2000 following the 12 October 2000 terrorist bombing attack on the ship in Aden, Yemen. Abdel Rahim al-Nashiri and Jamal Mohammed al-Bedawi, the two Al-Qaeda suspects convicted for the bombing, were sentenced to death September 29, 2004 by a Yemeni court. Four other suspects were given ten years in prison. (LYLE G. BECKER/AFP/Getty Images)
USS Cole sailors rest October 13, 2000 on the helicopter deck in Yemen following the October 12, 2000 terrorist bombing attack on their ship in the port of Aden, Yemen. (U.S. Navy Photo by Jim Watson)
ADEN, YEMEN: Official US investigators patrol the area around the USS Cole destroyer at Aden harbour in southern Yemen 20 October 2000. The New York Times said the United States received two warnings about possible terrorist attacks against US targets in late May and mid-September, well ahead of the October 12 bombing of the US warship in Yemen. (KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images)
A wounded American sailor from the USS Cole departs a Yemeni hospital October 12, 2000 en route to additional medical treatment in Germany following the terrorist bombing attack on his ship in the port of Aden, Yemen. (Photo by Jim Watson/Navy/)
A sailor is reunited with her family at the Naval Air Station October 15, 2000 in Norfolk, VA. 33 Sailors were injured when a suspected terrorist bomb struck the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole October 12, 2000 (Navy Photo)
381324 02: The Honorable Richard Danzig, Secretary of the Navy, shakes hands with a sailor injured during the attack on the guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) November 3, 2000 in Norfolk, VA. The Secretary, injured crew members, friends and family were all on hand to welcome the crew of USS Cole, returning to their home port in Norfolk. (Navy Photo)
Mona Gunn (red jacket) touches the casket of her son, US Navy Signalman Seaman Apprentice Cherone Louis Gunn, as her husband Louge (3rd R) and son Anton (C) with family members look on 20 October 2000 during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Gunn was one of 17 US sailors killed in the suicide bombing attack of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden 12 October. (MANNY CENETA/AFP/Getty Images)
An injured sailor from the USS Cole salutes during a memorial service October 18, 2000 in Norfolk VA. President Bill Clinton attended the service that honored the wounded and dead from the U.S. navy destroyer that was bombed while on a refueling stop in the Yemeni port of Aden. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty)
An injured sailor from the USS Cole is comforted by a family member during a memorial service October 18, 2000 in Norfolk VA. President Bill Clinton attended the service that honored the wounded and dead from the U.S. navy destroyer that was bombed while on a refueling stop in the Yemeni port of Aden. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty)
The USS Cole arrives in Pascagoula, Miss., Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2000, riding piggyback on a Norwegian-owned heavy-lift ship because of the damage to its port side. The USS Cole, with a gaping hole from terrorist bomb in Yemen that killed 17 sailors in October, returned Wednesday to the Mississippi shipyard where the $1 billion destroyer was built. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
The tugboat Janet Colle assists the USS Cole as it is returned back to the United States December 13, 2000 at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, MS. The USS Cole will receive repairs caused by an October 12, 2000 terrorist attack while in the port of Aden, Yemen. The Cole is returning aboard the Norwegian heavy transport ship M/V Blue Marlin owned by Offshore Heavy Transport of Oslo, Norway. (Photo by John David Mercer/Newsmakers)
Attorney General John Ashcroft, right, accompanied by FBI Director Robert Mueller, announces at FBI headquarters in Washington Thursday, May 15, 2003 that Fahd Al-Quso, shown in wanted poster at left, and Jamal Ahmed Mohammed al-Badawi were charged Thursday as al-Qaida members who helped plan the attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in 2000. Both Al-Quso and al-Badawi were charged with 50 counts of various terrorism offenses, including the murders of U.S. nationals and U.S. military personnel. If convicted, they could face the death penalty. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Sailors assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) salute the presentation of colors during a remembrance ceremony. Cole friends, family and shipmates, both past and present, gathered at Naval Station Norfolk for the 18th remembrance of the USS Cole terrorist attack. Seventeen Sailors lost their lives and another 39 sustained injuries while the crew worked for 96 consecutive hours to keep the ship afloat. (U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Justin Wolpert)
A Sailor visits the Cole Memorial on the 18th anniversary of the attack on the ship. Cole friends, family and shipmates, both past and present, gathered at Naval Station Norfolk for the 18th remembrance of the USS Cole terrorist attack. Seventeen Sailors lost their lives and another 39 sustained injuries while the crew worked for 96 consecutive hours to keep the ship afloat. (Navy photo by MC2 Justin Wolpert)
The guided-missile destroyer Cole docked in Aden, Yemen, on Oct. 12, 2000, for a standard refueling stop when a small fiberglass boat laden with explosives maneuvered toward the port side of the destroyer.
The ensuing explosion ripped a 40-by-60-foot gash into the ship’s side, killing 17 and wounding 39 more.
Reports estimated that between 400 and 700 pounds of explosives were used.
Yemeni authorities took Al-Badawi into custody in December 2000 for his part in the attack, but he escaped from prison in April 2003.
He was again apprehended about one year later, but escaped once more in 2006 when he and other inmates tunneled out of the prison and into an adjacent mosque.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program had at one time offered up to a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.
The FBI's "Most Wanted Terrorist" listing of Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawai. (FBI)
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