Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, ar, عبدالرحمن العولقي; August 26, 1995 – October 14, 2011) was a 16-year-old United States citizen who was killed while eating dinner at an outdoor restaurant in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

by a

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...

ordered by U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

on October 14, 2011. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki's father,

Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone stri ...

, was alleged to be an operational leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Anwar was killed by a CIA drone strike also ordered by Obama two weeks prior to the killing of his son.

Killing

Human rights groups questioned why al-Awlaki was killed by the U.S. in a country with which the United States was not at war. Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, stated "If the government is going to be firing Predator missiles at American citizens, surely the American public has a right to know who's being targeted, and why." Two U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity stated that the target of the October 14, 2011, airstrike was

Ibrahim al-Banna Ibrahim Muhammad Salih al-Banna ( ar, إبراهيم محمد صالح البنا; born 1965), known as Ibrahim al-Banna ( ar, إبراهيم البنا) (''nom de guerre'' Abu Ayman al-Masri) is a citizen of Egypt who security officials suspect ...

, an Egyptian believed to be a senior operative in

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب, Tanẓīm al-Qā‘idah fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, lit=Organization of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula or , ''Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jaz ...

. Another U.S. administration official speaking on condition of anonymity described Abdulrahman al-Awlaki as a bystander who was "in the wrong place at the wrong time," stating that "the U.S. government did not know that Mr. Awlaki's son was there" before the airstrike was ordered. When pressed by a reporter to defend the targeted killing policy that resulted in Abdulrahman al-Awlaki's death, former White House press secretary

Robert Gibbs Robert Lane Gibbs (born March 29, 1971) is an American communication professional who served as executive vice president and global chief communications officer of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019 and as the 27th White House Press Secretary from 20 ...

deflected blame to the victim's father: "I would suggest that you should have a far more responsible father if they are truly concerned about the well-being of their children. I don't think becoming an al-Qaeda jihadist terrorist is the best way to go about doing your business."

Killing of half-sister

On January 29, 2017, Anwar al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter,

Nawar al-Awlaki Nawar "Nora" al-Awlaki ( ar, نوار العولقي; 2008/2009 – January 29, 2017) was an eight-year-old American citizen who was killed on January 29, 2017, during the Raid on Yakla, a commando attack ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.G ...

, the half-sister of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, was killed in the

Raid on Yakla The Raid on Yakla was a United States/United Arab Emirates military operation carried out on January 29, 2017 in al-Ghayil, a village in the Yakla area of the Al Bayda Governorate of central Yemen, during the Yemeni Civil War (2014–present). A ...

, a commando attack ordered by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

."1 US service member killed, 3 wounded in Yemen raid"
, ''

WPVI-TV WPVI-TV (channel 6), branded on-air as 6 ABC, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station ...

'', 6 ABC Action News, Philadelphia, PA. January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017.

References

External links

An American Teenager in Yemen: Paying for the Sins of His Father?
article about Yemeni reaction to American drone attacks
A Tale of Two Murders
Antiwar.com, March 31, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Awlaki, Abdulrahman Anwar Deaths by drone strikes of the Central Intelligence Agency in Yemen Anwar al-Awlaki Obama administration controversies

Killing

Killing of half-sister

See also

References

External links