Anwar al-Awlaki أنور العولقي |
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![]() Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in 2008
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Born |
Anwar bin Nasser bin Abdulla al-Aulaqi April 21, 1971(UPI gives April 22, 1971) Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S. |
Died | September 30, 2011 Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen |
(aged 40)
Cause of death | Hellfire missile drone strike |
Citizenship | United States, Yemen |
Alma mater |
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Occupation |
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Known for | Lectures across Asia and the Middle East Inspire magazine Alleged senior al-Qaeda recruiter and spokesman |
Children | 5 |
Parent(s) | Nasser al-Awlaki (father) |
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Anwar al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; Arabic: أنور العولقي Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American and Yemeni imam and Islamic lecturer. U.S. government officials allege that, in his position as a senior recruiter and motivator, he was centrally involved in planning terrorist operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, and he became the first United States citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike. President Barack Obama ordered the strike. His son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki (a 16-year-old U.S. citizen), was killed in a U.S. drone strike two weeks later. On January 29, 2017, Al-Awlaki's 8-year-old daughter, Nawar Al-Awlaki, was killed in a U.S. commando attack in Yemen which was ordered by Obama's successor, Donald Trump. With a blog, a Facebook page, the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire, and many YouTube videos, al-Awlaki was described by Saudi news station Al Arabiya as the "bin Laden of the Internet". After a request from the U.S. Congress, in November 2010 Google removed many of al-Awlaki's videos from its websites. According to The New York Times, al-Awlaki's public statements and videos have been more influential in inspiring acts of terrorism in the wake of his assassination than before his death.
As imam at a mosque in Falls Church, Virginia (2001–02), al-Awlaki spoke with and preached to three of the 9/11 hijackers, who were al-Qaeda members. In 2001, he presided at the funeral of the mother of Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who later e-mailed him extensively in 2008–09 before the Fort Hood shootings. During al-Awlaki's later radical period after 2006–07, when he went into hiding, he may have associated with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who attempted the 2009 Christmas Day bombing of an American airliner. Al-Awlaki was allegedly involved in planning Abdulmutallab's attack.