The killings Friday of alleged terrorists cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and computer expert Samir Khan could spark retaliatory attacks against the United States, according to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
The agencies issued a joint intelligence bulletin late Friday that said supporters might seek to portray al-Awlaki as a martyr in a supposed U.S. war against Islam. It says the deaths "could provide motivation for homeland attacks" by "homegrown violent extremists," the type the two men allegedly tried to recruit or inspire.
The bulletin came less than a day after U.S. and Yemeni government officials announced that al-Awlaki -- an American whose fluency with English and technology made him a top terrorist recruiter -- was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.
"It was a joint U.S. military-intelligence operation," a U.S. official said, adding that the U.S. military helped target al-Awlaki and that manned American military aircraft were flying overhead ready to offer assistance. The drone was operated by the CIA, officials said.
The strike also killed Khan, an American, and two others who were in the same vehicle as al-Awlaki, said another U.S. official who was briefed by the CIA. Khan specialized in computer programming for al Qaeda and produced the terrorist network's English-language online magazine, Inspire.
The CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command had al-Awlaki under surveillance for at least two weeks, but were awaiting an opportunity to kill him without causing civilian casualties or damage, an administration official said. CIA and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) personnel and assets, including drones, were used to track him and to assess how to target him. JSOC, which commands the clandestine U.S. military units, "played a key role in developing the targeting information."
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