By Jennifer Griffin & Justin
Fishel
Published September 30, 2011
Senior Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki
and another America-born militant were killed in Yemen early
Friday
morning by a CIA-led U.S. drone strike, marking the highest-profile
takedown of terror leaders since the raid on Usama bin Laden's
compound.
Fox News has learned that two Predator
drones hovering above al-Awlaki's convoy fired the Hellfire missiles
which killed the terror leader. According to a senior U.S. official, the
operation was carried out by Joint Special Operations Command, under
the direction of the CIA. A total of four people were killed in the
attack
President Obama called the strike a major "milestone" in the fight against Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
"The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al
Qaeda's most active operational affiliate," Obama said Friday. "He took
the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans
... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and
around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a
murderous agenda."
He said the strike is "further proof that Al Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world."
Al-Awlaki was a U.S.-born Islamic militant
cleric who became a prominent figure with Al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula, the network's most active branch. He was involved in several
terror plots in the United States in recent years, using his fluent
English and Internet savvy to draw recruits to carry out attacks.
President Obama signed an order in early 2010 making him the first
American to be placed on the "kill or capture" list.
The Yemeni government and Defense Ministry
announced al-Awlaki's death, without giving details. But American
sources confirmed the CIA and U.S. military were behind the strike on
al-Awlaki, whom one official described as a "big fish."
The strike hit a vehicle with other
suspected Al Qaeda members inside, in addition to al-Awlaki. According
to a U.S. senior official, the other American militant killed in the
strike was Samir Khan, the co-editor of an English-language Al Qaeda web
magazine called "Inspire."
Khan, in his 20s, was an American of
Pakistani heritage from North Carolina. His magazine promoted attacks
against U.S. targets, even running articles on how to put together
explosives. In one issue, Khan wrote that he had moved to Yemen and
joined Al Qaeda's fighters, pledging to "wage jihad for the rest of our
lives."
The strike comes after a heavy presence of
U.S. drones was spotted in the skies over the region over the last
couple weeks, one source told Fox News.
The strike underscores the expanding nature
of the drone program, which has migrated beyond the borders of Pakistan
into Yemen, Somalia and other countries.
Yemeni security officials and local tribal
leaders also said al-Awlaki was killed in an air strike on his convoy
that they believed was carried out by the Americans.
Al-Awlaki would be the most prominent Al
Qaeda figure to be killed since bin Laden's death in a U.S. raid in
Pakistan in May. In July, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the
Yemeni-American was a priority target alongside Ayman al-Zawahri, bin
Laden's successor as the terror network's leader.
The 40-year-old al-Awlaki had been in the
U.S. crosshairs since his killing was approved by President Obama in
April 2010 -- making him the first American placed on the CIA "kill or
capture" list. At least twice, airstrikes were called in on locations in
Yemen where al-Awlaki was suspected of being, but he wasn't harmed. In
May, U.S. forces were able to track his truck but were unable to take
him out.
Al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, was believed to be key in turning Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen into what American officials have cal
Yemeni officials have said al-Awlaki had
contacts with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the accused would-be Christmas
plane bomber, who was in Yemen in 2009. They say the believe al-Awlaki
met with the 23-year-old Nigerian, along with other Al Qaeda leaders, in
Al Qaeda strongholds in the country in the weeks before the failed
bombing.
In New York, the Pakistani-American man who
pleaded guilty to the May 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt told
interrogators he was "inspired" by al-Awlaki after making contact over
the Internet.
Al-Awlaki also exchanged up to 20 emails
with U.S. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, alleged killer of 13 people in the
Nov. 5, 2009, rampage at Fort Hood. Hasan initiated the contacts, drawn
by al-Awlaki's Internet sermons, and approached him for religious
advice.
Al-Awlaki has said he didn't tell Hasan to
carry out the shootings, but he later praised Hasan as a "hero" on his
Web site for killing American soldiers who would be heading for
Afghanistan or Iraq to fight Muslims. The cleric similarly said
Abdulmutallab was his "student" but said he never told him to carry out
the airline attack.
In a statement, the Yemeni government said
al-Awlaki was "targeted and killed" 5 miles from the town of Khashef in
the Province of al-Jawf. The town is located 87 miles east of the
capital Sanaa.
The statement says the operation was launched on Friday around 9:55 a.m. It gave no other details.
The Yemeni Defense Ministry also reported the death, without elaborating, in a mobile phone SMS message.
Top U.S. counter terrorism adviser John
Brennan says such cooperation with Yemen has improved since the
political unrest there. Brennan said the Yemenis have been more willing
to share information about the location of Al Qaeda targets, as a way to
fight the Yemeni branch challenging them for power. Other U.S.
officials say the Yemenis have also allowed the U.S. to fly more armed
drone and aircraft missions over its territory than ever previously,
trying to use U.S. military power to stay in power.
Fox News' Catherine Herridge and Mike Levine and The Associated Press contributed to this report
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/30/us-born-terror-boss-anwar-al-awlaki-killed/#ixzz1ZSm7LbpE
No comments:
Post a Comment