United States carried out an airstrike in January that killed a leader of Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen after months of tracking him, according to current and former government officials. 

Qassim al-Rimi, 41, was killed in the January strike but officials had been waiting to confirm the information before making public statement, the  reports. 

The Yemen branch, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has been keen to attack the U.S. and Europe. Confirmation of al-Rimi's death would mean a significant blow for the group.   

U.S. officials have taken the gentle approach when announcing the success of this particular drone strike as they have learned in the past that they were too-quick to do so for other CIA drone strikes. 

While military officials said they weren't aware of any other attacks, both the CIA and the National Security Council would not comment. 

In November, CIA personnel learned of al-Rimi's location from an informant. The government then started using surveillance drones to track him, according to an U.S. official who was briefed on the strike. 

Local news in Yemen reports that the strike killed two militant suspects in the area of Wadi Abedah in central Yemen, but did not identify who those people were. 

Al-Rimi is a veteran of the Queda training camps in Afghanistan and whose 'terrorist pedigree traces to the era before the September 11 attacks,' NYT reports.  

He then returned to Yemen and was sentenced to five years in prison there for plotting to kill the American ambassador there. 

Al-Rimi broke out of jail after only a year and quickly rose in the ranks of the Qaeda affiliate. 

A $5million reward for any information leading to his capture was offered by the State Department. It was late doubled to $10million as al-Rimi was linked to numerous plots against the U.S. 

In 2017, al-Rimi notably sent President Donald Trump an audio message taunting him for a Special Operations Forces raid on an al Qaeda compound in Yemen that led to the first military combat death under the Trump administration, reports.   

Compiled by Olalekan Adeleye

MailOnline