Anwar al-Awlaki, the public face of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed on Friday in an airstrike in Yemen, dealing another body-blow to the terror network after the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May.
A Yemeni defence ministry official said that an airstrike hit al-Awlaki's motorcade but gave no details about the operation or who conducted it. The US-born militant cleric was believed to be hiding in Yemen.
Awlaki was killed about 8 kilometres from the Yemeni town of Khashef, east of the capital, Sanaa, said Mohammed Basha, a Yemen Embassy spokesman in Washington.
A senior US administration official confirmed al- Awlaki's death, CNN reported.
Awlaki, of Yemeni descent, was on the run in Yemen since December 2007. The US regards the 40-year-old al-Awlaki as the biggest threat to its homeland security and named him a "specially designated global terrorist" for his alleged role in a number of attacks.
Born in New Mexico, Awlaki, eloquent in English and Arabic, preached at a mosque in Virginia before leaving the United States for the Middle East.
US officials say Awlaki helped recruit Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a transatlantic flight as it landed in Detroit on December 25, 2009
Awlaki is also said to have exchanged emails with accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hassan who killed a dozen fellow soldiers and a civilian in a rampage at the Texas base.