Al-Awlaki’s Son Reportedly Among Al-Qaeda Militants Killed in U.S. Drone Strike
- Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:13am by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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SANAA, Yemen (AP) — An American drone strike in southern Yemen has killed seven al-Qaida-linked militants, including the media chief for the group’s Yemeni branch and the son of a prominent U.S.-born cleric slain in a similar attack last month, government officials and tribal elders said Saturday.
Defected army soldiers stand in line as they guard a street where protestors demonstrated to demand the resignation of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Oct. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
In the capital, meanwhile, forces loyal to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters, killing at least nine and wounding scores, according to medical officials and witnesses.
The airstrike late Friday in the southeastern province of Shabwa points to Washington’s growing use of drones to target al-Qaida militants in Yemen. The missile attacks appear to be part of a determined effort to stamp out the threat from the group, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which U.S. officials have said is the terror network’s most active and most dangerous branch.
The Yemeni Defense Ministry identified the slain media chief as Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Bana. Tribal elders in the area also said the dead included Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki, the 21-year-old son of Anwar al-Awlaki, a gifted Muslim preacher and savvy Internet operator who became a powerful al-Qaida recruiting tool in the West. He, along with another propagandist, Pakistani-American Samir Khan, were killed in a Sept. 30 U.S. drone attack.
The tribal elders, who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals, said four other members of the al-Awlaki clan also were killed in the drone attack. There was no immediate confirmation of the younger al-Awlaki’s death from Yemeni authorities.
Security officials said the strike that killed them was one of five carried out over night by an American drones on suspected al-Qaida positions in Shabwa and the neighboring province of Abyan in Yemen’s largely lawless south.
The first strike late Friday targeted a house in the Azan district of Shabwa, but hit just after al-Qaida militants had a meeting in the building, security officials and tribal elders said.
They said a second strike then targeted two sport utility vehicles in which al-Bana and the six others were traveling, destroying the vehicles and leaving the men’s bodies charred. It was not clear whether other participants in the meeting were targeted in separate strikes.
AQAP has taken advantage of the political turmoil roiling Yemen. Saleh, who has ruled the country for more than 30 years, has been struggling to stay in power in the face of eight months of massive street protests demanding his ouster and the defection to the opposition of key aides and military commanders.
Militants linked to AQAP have taken over several cities in the south, raising fears that they could establish a permanent stronghold in this strategically located nation. Yemen is located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, on the doorstep of Saudi Arabia and the oil-producing nations of the Gulf. It also overlooks strategic sea routes leading to the Suez Canal.
In a separate development, the security officials said suspected al-Qaida militants bombed a key underground gas pipeline that extends from the Balhaf area in Shabwa to an export terminal on the Arabian Sea. The Friday night attack started a massive fire, with columns of flames illuminating the night sky.
The security officials said non-Yemeni employees of the French company running the gas field and pipeline in Balhaf have been evacuated to Sanaa aboard three helicopters for their safety. They had no more details.
In Sanaa, the medical officials and witnesses said forces loyal to Saleh opened up on the protesters with assault rifles and anti-aircraft guns. They said at least 180 people were wounded. The wounded were ferried to hospital in ambulances and on motorbikes. Gunfire could be heard in the area of the clashes well into the afternoon.
In the Hassaba area of northern Sanaa, anti-regime tribesmen and forces loyal to saleh were trading mortar shells and rocket propelled grenades. The fighting, which began overnight, killed one person and wounded six, all civilians.
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Comments (48)
chitown
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:51pmOOPS!! My bad.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:45pmYou mean to tell me they fired on tens of thousands and only got nine? Our umpires in the National League could do better than that.
Report Post »ishka4me
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 12:48amwhat most don’t know is that jihdis on suicide missions use lots of tap and fire proof material to cover their genitals. They believe if their genitals are mutilated that they wont get to have their 72 virgins. These poor guys didn’t get to wrap their rascals before the drone attacks. that is the truth, failed suicide bombers all had their jewels protected.
Report Post »don young
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 4:10pmno great loss.
Report Post »Gorp
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 9:26amHow does that old saying go?
“The Apple doesn’t blow up far from the Tree” Or something like that?
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 4:01pmGood… It’s A Family Affair
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 12:49pmLike father, like son!
If the Muslim is radical or just at the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess it just was not your day. You consort with the enemy, you pay the consequences. Sucks to be you, as Glenn might say and I confirm.
Report Post »modilly
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 1:43pmDoesn’t this mean that the Administration has killed another citizen? I wonder if this one was on the list of the star chamber. Not sad to see this one go but was it legal to kill an American citizen? Maybe they didn’t know he was there?
Report Post »IntegrityFirst08
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 3:25pmI cant explain this enough, the world is a safer place to be in with these people gone or in jail. Props to all the Intel people and CIA for getting these guys. We are allowd to defend our nation MODILLY. By any means nessesary.
Report Post »Joe Schmuck
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 11:06amO Oh – Now we’ve gone and done it!
Report Post »Joe Schmuck
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 11:08amThey are probably laughing all the way to the Virgins!
Report Post »The_Almighty_Creestof
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 11:19amWell, that is at least two towels the nearest Holiday Inn will get back!
Report Post »sissykatz
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:27amIt had not even crossed my mind that the “Devil” had procreated. I hope it got them all, best to
Report Post »end it early on. I guess the State Department is still Apoligizing… for OUR MISDEEDS..??…
turkey13
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 11:29amRight – hope this finished this gene pool. It was tainted with part devil. Now if we could divert some drones to the Wall St. area.
Report Post »SamIamTwo
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:14amI have no problem with this.
Report Post »ozchambers
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 1:38pmNeither do I, but it sickens me that we kill them in Yemen and provide air support and supplies for them in Libya.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:51amI sure hope The State Dept. called and apologized profusely!
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:48amI must say good riddance but… Unless we keep our government honest, the drones will soon be used right here on all of us.
Report Post »TWO BITS
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:45amUnlike Obama’s drone, these missiles are very effective! Regarding Awlaki, I say like father, like son and good riddance. Will the State Department include a floral arrangement with their apology this time?
Report Post »Patriot12
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:32amGood!
Report Post »Evil_Conservative
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:48amyup
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:27amMaybe this is finally the “hope and change” Obama promised.
Report Post »Secessionista
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:08amWhen are we going to finish killing Osama’s spawn? Don’t you think they are the next greatest threat to us? And after all, killing their children should provide disincentive for the next terrorist du jour. I think the same thing goes for suicide bombers. If they blow themselves up, we should find their children and wives and kill them every single time. There needs to be a consequence to them.
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:15amAnother Ding Don Dip Wad Dead. Let me just search my pockets for…nope not here. I was looking for a Tear to spare. Oh Well. Now on to the next one…..yippeee.
Report Post »Secessionista
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:05amI don’t always hate Muslims and Arabs, but when I do, I hate Al Queada operatives and their children.
Report Post »Riptides
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:50amOne less rodent in this world.
Report Post »I hope he suffered before he died.
JokerWatcher
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:46amanother tu rd down the drain…
Report Post »bringiton
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:43amHey prog-t@rds, now that you are all pro-war with your emporer in charge, ever wonder where some of those drones are based out of? Does Iraq ring a bell? Holy cr@p you people are insanely hypocritical. What? Ed (joseph goebbels) Shultz didn’t bring it up, so it ain’t so? You people make my teeth itch.
Report Post »Gcopp6
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:05amIt is amazing how Lefties play follow the leader. This support for war now that the bus driver is apparently even more asleep at the wheel then the previous driver was. Please vote republican friends so that we can prosper in safety:)
Report Post »YepImaConservative
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:24amI have no problem with Obama authorizing these drone strikes until we relieve him of his command in 2012. Any dead Islamic terrorist or radical and their dead Islamic sympathizers are good Muslames. Let’s create (cremate) some more good Muslames.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:45amOne more filthy Muslim down…..millions more to go.
Report Post »YepImaConservative
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:52amRoger that!
Report Post »ashestoashes
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:24amTXPILOT Did you happen to read TXMADMAC’s post about the ones that Obama had our military kill were Christians?
Report Post »2linepass
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:23amEff with the Bull, you get the horn.
Report Post »food plot 7.62
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:23amAnother one bites the dust
Report Post »PA PATRIOT
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:15amAnd he (my friends) is now in the history books.
Report Post »wboehmer
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:32amLike father, like son!
Report Post »ares338
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:12amAll in the family!
Report Post »TxMadMac
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:47amOur gov’t officials called and appologised to Kahns parents for the kill when in reality, he was heavily involved with al wacky and deserved it !
Report Post »old white guy
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:49amhe was gifted muslim preacher. boo hoo. bye bye.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:58am… Ha, ha! Drone strike killed Abdul!! Ha, ha! Frickin’ camel kicker!
Report Post »Polwatcher
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:45amObummer playing his video game again. Nice target, though. Glen better keep an eye out.
Report Post »let us prey
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:18amAnother kill for the warlord obumbler. By the end of today, he may have a couple more by way of the Sudan.
Report Post »obumbler lied people died.
Nobel peace prize winning [warlord]??????
TxMadMac
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:32amYou realise of course that is a Christian army of about 500 men, with accusations of rape and murder, fighting the muslims that Obama has sent our soldiers in to kill.
Report Post »TxMadMac
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:35amY
Report Post »ou realise of course that is a Christian army fighting the muslims. Obama has sent our soldiers in to kill Christians !
let us prey
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:59amobumbler would do anything to speed up the caliphate. He’d kill anyone, [christian or mooselimb].
Report Post »ashestoashes
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:47amTEXMMADMAC Are you serious? Are you really serious? How did you find this out? Where can this be verified?
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