AQAP claims responsibility for US military base attack: monitor

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for a December shooting at a US naval base in which a Saudi officer killed three sailors, the SITE monitor said Sunday.

"In an audio speech delivered by its leader, Qassim al-Rimi, (AQAP) claimed credit for the December 2019 Naval Air Station Pensacola attack," SITE, which tracks jihadist media, said in a statement.

The December 6 shooting in a classroom building at the naval base also wounded eight other people, including two responding sheriff's deputies, before police shot dead the assailant.

The FBI formally identified the attacker as Mohammed Alshamrani, 21, a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force and a student naval flight officer.

The SITE monitor said he had posted a short manifesto on Twitter prior to the attack that read: "I'm against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil."
"I hate you because every day you (are) supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims but also humanity."
Saudi Arabia's King Salman was quick to denounce the shooting as a "heinous crime" and said the gunman "does not represent the Saudi people."