U.S.-born terror suspect Anwar al-Awlaki killed: Yemeni defense ministry

Anwar al-Awlaki.

ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical Muslim cleric, has been killed along with a number of his supporters in Yemen's southeastern province of Shabwa, the Yemeni Defense Ministry said in a brief statement to the media.

The statement quoted a security official as saying the prominent leader of the Yemen-based al-Qaida wing was killed along with a number of his supporters. The statement did not give more details about his killing.

Al-Awlaki was wanted by the U.S. government for his links to the attempted bombing of an airliner bound for the United States and his involvement in planning attacks against the country.

Shabwa, some 458 km southeast of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, is considered to be another stronghold of hundreds of al-Qaida militants.

Meanwhile, tribal sources confirmed that "a U.S. unmanned drone fired a missile on two cars in Masila area, located between the northeastern restive provinces of Marib and al-Jouf, killing all onboard."

"No confirmed information that the wanted Sheikh Anwar al- Awlaki was in the convoy," a tribal official from Shabwa province, the ancestral homeland of al-Awlaki, told Xinhua by phone.