London, Sept 30: Yemeni forces say they have killed US-born radical Muslim cleric, who has been linked to 9/11 and Fort Hood shootings.
Anwar al-Awlaki, the US-born spiritual guru of al Qaeda's most active grouping, has been killed, the Yemen defence ministry said. The ministry said Yemeni forces killed Awlaki and some of his associates, though it did not say where and when.
"The terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed along with some of his companions," it said in a statement sent by text message to journalists. His death could not be immediately corroborated.
The US-born civil engineer-turned radical Muslim cleric had been implicated in a botched attempt to bomb a US-bound plane in 2009.
His internet sermons and his slick magazine Inspire had positioned him as a leading figure in the radical community.
Awlaki, who is of Yemeni descent, has been on the run in Yemen since December 2007.
The US has named him a "specially designated global terrorist" for his alleged role in a number of attacks and he is said to be on a CIA hit list.
He has been implicated in the US army base killings in Fort Hood, Texas, the Christmas 2009 Detroit airline bomb attempt, and a failed bombing in New York's Times Square.
When he was imam of a San Diego mosque in the 1990s, his sermons were attended by two future 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.
In a video posted in November last year he called for the killing of Americans, saying they were from the "party of devils".
