Washington (CNN) The terrorist behind the 2000 attack on the USS Cole was killed in a US airstrike in Yemen last week, President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday.

Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi was an al Qaeda operative who the US believes helped orchestrate the October 12, 2000, bombing of the US guided missile destroyer, which killed 17 American sailors.

"Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole," Trump wrote Sunday on Twitter. "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!"

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! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2019

CNN reported Friday that Al-Badawi was believed to have been killed in the airstrike on Tuesday, according to a US administration official.

The official said all intelligence indicators show al-Badawi was killed in a strike in Yemen as a result of a joint US military and intelligence operation.

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