September 29, 2011 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Anwar al-Awlaki, the American born al-Qaeda leader living in Yemen was killed this morning in a drone attack according to numerous reports. Several of his aides were also killed.

"The source said that Awlaki that is a leader at al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was killed along with the US citizen of Pakistani origin Sameer Khan and two other al-Qaeda fighters in al-Jawf province in the north of Yemen. Tribal sources said that Awlaki was killed along with other fighters in an airstrike targeted two cars carrying al-Awlaki and some other al-Qaeda fighters in al-Jawf province...AL-Jawf, and Marib provinces are two strongholds of al-Qaeda in the north of Yemen while Shabwah and Abyan provinces are other two strongholds of al-Qaeda in the South of Yemen." [source, Mohammed al-Kibsi, Al-Qaeda Leader Awlaki Killed In Airstrike In North, Yemen Observer, http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10021471.html]

Al-Awlaki is thought to have played a key role in al-Qaeda's online outreach to jihadists and has been linked to numerous acts of terrorism including the 2009 attempted Christmas bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253, while on the ground in Detroit. Additionally Awlaki was considered to have been a major influence on Major Nidal Hasan's jihad at Ft. Hood, Texas [November 3, 2009], which resulted in the death of 13 servicemen.

It is not known what effect Awlaki's death will have on Yemen's ongoing civil strife or al-Qaeda's operations in North Africa.

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