Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric linked to Al Qaeda’s Yemen-based wing, has been killed, Yemen’s defence ministry said on Friday.
“The terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed along with some of his companions,” it said in a statement sent by text message to journalists, but gave no details. A Yemeni security official said Awlaki, who is of Yemeni descent, was hit in a Friday morning air raid in the northern al-Jawf province that borders oil giant Saudi Arabia. He said four others killed with him were suspected Al Qaeda members.
It was not immediately clear if Yemeni forces had carried out the raid or if Awlaki had been killed by a US drone strike. A US drone aircraft targeted but missed Alwaki in May.
US officials were not immediately available for comment.
The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)usually confirms the deaths of its members or affiliates on Internet posts a few days after the attack. Awlaki had been implicated in a botched attempt by AQAP to bomb a US-bound plane in 2009.