Abdulrahman al-Awlaki

Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi; August 26, 1995[1] – October 14, 2011) was a 16-year-old American citizen who was killed while eating dinner at an outdoor restaurant[2][3][4][5] by an airstrike by an armed C.I.A. drone in Yemen on October 14, 2011. Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki had no connection to terrorism[6] and was searching for his father Anwar al-Awlaki, a dual Yemeni-American citizen who worked as a propagandist for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by an airstrike by an armed C.I.A. drone[7] two weeks prior to the death of his son.

Human rights groups have raised questions as to why Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed by the U.S. in a country with which the United States is not at war. Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, 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."[8]

Two U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity stated that the target of the October 14, 2011 airstrike was Ibrahim al-Banna, an Egyptian believed to be a senior operative in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.[8] 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.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Abdulrahman al-Awlaki's birth certificate". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  2. ↑ CODEPINK Repeatedly Disrupts Brennan Hearing Calling Out Names Of Civilians Killed in Drone Strikes 10:38 minutes in
  3. ↑ Families Sue Over U.S. Deaths In Yemen Drone Strikes
  4. ↑ American drone deaths highlight controversy
  5. ↑ Al-Aulaqi v. Panetta
  6. ↑ a U.S. Citizen Came to Be in America’s Cross Hairs
  7. ↑ Raghavan, Sudarsan (September 30, 2011). "Awlaqi hit misses al-Qaeda bombmaker, Yemen says". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Whitloc, Craig (October 23, 2011). "U.S. airstrike that killed American teen in Yemen raises legal, ethical questions". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.

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