Has the U.S. tried a double header? A U.S. drone attack in Yemen failed to kill Anwar al-Awlaki the American born Al Qaeda associate who is considered an up and coming person in the terrorist world — particularly in light of the U.S. killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on Sunday:
The U.S. launched a drone strike in Yemen on Thursday aimed at killing Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric suspected of orchestrating terrorist attacks in the U.S, but he evaded the missile, Yemeni and U.S. officials said.
The attack came days after a U.S. Navy SEALs team killed Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan. Had Thursday’s strike succeeded, the U.S. would have killed two of the most-wanted terrorists in a week.
Mr. Awlaki has emerged as a leading charismatic front-man of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a group the U.S. considers the world’s most active terror organization. With bin Laden’s death, some officials believe Mr. Awlaki and the Yemen-based group now represent the gravest threat to the U.S.
He has been linked to at least three major incidents: the Ft. Hood shootings, the Christmas 2009 plot to blow up a U.S.-bound passenger plane and a plan to blow up cargo planes.
The attack appears to be unrelated to intelligence information taken in the raid that killed bin Laden, whose death was confirmed by al Qaeda Friday in a statement that vowed to continue attacks on Americans.
The drone aircraft attack that killed two midlevel al Qaeda militants in Yemen on Thursday was targeting the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a U.S.-born radical known for encouraging attacks on the United States, U.S. media reported.
CBS News and The Wall Street Journal, citing Yemeni and U.S. officials, said on Friday that Anwar al-Awlaki was not hit when a missile was fired at a car in southern Yemen on Thursday, killing two brothers believed to be al Qaeda militants.
“We were hoping it was him,” a U.S. official told CBS News.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, is estimated to number about 300 fighters with strongholds in remote mountain regions in the provinces of Shabwa, Abyan, Jouf and Marib. It is thought to be behind numerous attacks on government targets.
The group is said to have inspired attacks by Muslims inside the United States — including the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings in which an Army psychiatrist is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32 — and twice smuggled explosives aboard aircraft headed to the United States.
Yemen’s Defense Ministry confirmed Thursday’s drone attack had killed two al Qaeda militants, identifying them as brothers Musa’id and Abdullah Mubarak al-Daghari.
Washington considers the Yemen-based al Qaeda branch the world’s most active terror cell.
But the Yemen Post notes that this was a fruitful attack, anyway:
Two Al-Qaida leaders were killed on Thursday in Yemen, 26sep.nt reported, identifying them as Musaid MubarakAl-Daghari and his brother Abdullah.
The two terrorists were extremely dangerous and involved in many terrorist acts in the country and they were killed at dawn in Shabwa province after a long hunt, the website said.
In recent weeks, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has stepped attacks against security targets in southern and southeastern region killing several soldiers and injuring others.
In response, the security authorities were placed on high alert and faced the attacks leaving some terrorist elements killed.Today’s operation came days after the death of the spiritual leader of Al-Qaida groups Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.
The Yemeni government hailed the operation in which the long-hunted leader was killed, though observers said that his death will not weaken AQAP.
The death would affect the morale of terrorist groups in the world, nothing else, observers said, adding that the groups will continue their operations actively because bin Laden has not had a direct role in instructing or guiding them in recent years.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.