EEUU MATA A LÍDER DE AL QAEDA

Top of the Agenda: U.S.-Born Al-Qaeda Leader Killed in Yemen

U.S.-born Islamist cleric and major al-Qaeda figure Anwar al-Awlaki (NYT) was killed by a drone strike in Yemen, the country's Defense Ministry confirmed. A senior U.S. official (AP) corroborated the news. It is believed that the attack was carried out by the United States.

Awlaki, a leading recruiter for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has been linked to terrorist incidents on U.S. soil (WSJ). These include the deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, in the fall of 2009, a plot on Christmas day 2009 to blow up a U.S.-bound passenger aircraft, and a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square in May 2010.

Awlaki used the Internet and social media (al-Jazeera) to circulate al-Qaeda's message. His fluent English enabled him to disseminate militant propaganda, which U.S. officials had feared could be used to attract recruits from Western countries.

Analysis

Yemen is experiencing serious political turmoil after more than three decades of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's autocratic rule. To help stabilize Yemen, Gregory Johnsen argues in this CFR Policy Innovation Memo that theUnited States must broaden its policy beyond counterterrorism efforts.

Targeted killings have become a central component of U.S. counterterrorism operations around the globe. Despite pointed criticism over transparency and accountability issues, analysts say the controversial practiceseems likely to expand in the future, explains this CFR Backgrounder.

This CFR Backgrounder offers a profile of al-Qaeda, the international terrorist network that the United States has singled out as the most serious threat to U.S. security.