American-born Islamic leader turned al-Qaeda operative was reportedly killed on Friday by a US airstrike in northern Yemen. The former Falls Church, Virginia leader had been on the US most wanted list. His death sparked mixed reactions on Twitter, with both Arabs and Americans giving mixed views on the assassination. One American on Twitter said it “was another bad day for America” in reference to the killing, and called for due process to be carried out against any “target” in order to uphold “American values.” The strike also killed a second U.S. citizen — Samir Khan, the co-editor of an al-Qaeda magazine — and two other unidentified al-Qaeda operatives, the Yemeni government said. Tribal leaders in the area said at least seven people were killed. They identified one of the others as al-Qaeda militant named Salem bin Arfaaj. One American echoed the above sentiments by writing on Twitter: “American citizen Anwar Al-Awlaki killed without due process, and people are cheering? Seriously?” In Washington, senior Obama administration officials confirmed that Aulaqi, 40, a dual national of the United States and Yemen, and Khan were killed in a drone strike on their convoy. In Egypt and across the Middle East, the reports of al-Awlaki's death sparked a few outbursts of anger directed at Washington. One Egyptian, writing on Facebook, said “the murder of people, whether they are terrorists or not, should not be something that the United States should be doing because it just shows this region that nobody is safe if America doesn't like you.” The strike was carried out by a CIA drone operating from a new agency base on the Arabian Peninsula, US officials told the Washington Post. It is the first strike the CIA has launched a drone strike in Yemen since 2002. American President Obama called Awlaki's death “a major blow to al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate” and described him as “the leader of external operations for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,” a group known as AQAP. “In that role, he took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans,” Obama said at a ceremony honoring the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at Fort Myer. Many Americans supported Washington's move to kill the man, with a number of Twitter praising the attack: “#USAUSAUSA Anwar al-Awlaki killed in yemen #neversurrender #wewillfindyou #Thankyouarmedforces” and “Anwar Al-Awlaki can't get any more degrees from American Universities!” However, some were not as pleased with the killing, saying “Applauding killing of Anwar al #Awlaki there, while…err supporting Al-Qaeda/#LFIG in #Libya. US/EU foreign policy tripping up again…” BM
