Friday, May 6, 2011

U.S. Targeted Awlaki in Missile Strike



A U.S. drone strike in Yemen Thursday was aimed at killing Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric who is suspected of orchestrating terrorist attacks on the U.S, but the missile missed its target, according to Yemeni and U.S. officials.

The drone strike comes less than a week after a U.S. Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan. Had the drone strike in Yemen been successful, the U.S. would have killed two of the top three most-wanted terrorists in a single week.

Mr. Awlaki has emerged as the charismatic frontman of an al Qaeda branch based in Yemen, which the U.S. considers the most active terror group in the world. With bin Laden's death, some officials believe Mr. Awlaki and his group now represents the gravest threat to the U.S.

White House and Pentagon officials declined to comment on any strikes in Yemen.

The timing of the strike shows the administration's resolve to take out Mr. Awlaki and other members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as his group is known.

The attempt to kill Mr. Awlaki was the first known U.S. military strike inside Yemen since May 2010, when U.S. missiles mistakenly killed one of Yemen President Abdullah Ali Saleh's envoys and an unknown number of other people.

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