The U.S. raised its terror alert and warned of possible violence against Americans on Saturday following a drone strike that killed a top-level al-Qaeda militant in Yemen the day before.
U.S-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a propagandist who had also taken on operational duties in the terror network, was killed in a remote desert area in Yemen's Al Jawf province early Friday.
The State Department said the strike, which also killed another well-known militant, could result in retaliatory attacks on American targets around the world.
"The death of Awlaki, in the near term, could provide motivation for anti-American attacks worldwide from individuals or groups seeking to retaliate against U.S. citizens or interests because of this action," the State Department warned.
Samir Khan, who published the terror network's English-language magazine "Inspire," also died in the drone strike. According to unconfirmed reports, notorious Saudi bomb-maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri was also killed.
The deaths mark Washington's most significant anti-terror victory since Osama bin Laden was killed in May.
Al-Awlaki, 40, had become a dangerous U.S. enemy in recent months thanks to his Internet sermons that were able to attract recruits from around the world.
It's believed that Al-Awlaki's fiery words emboldened a young Nigerian man who nearly blew up a flight over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009. The American-born Al-Awlaki also encouraged a Pakistani-American who later botched a bombing in New York's Times Square.
U.S. President Barack Obama said the strike is a "major blow to al Qaeda's most active operational affiliate." Obama said that al-Awlaki was the group's "leader of external operations."
While U.S. officials heralded the deadly strike's success, they also warned that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- the name for the Yemeni branch of the network -- has previously called for the deaths of American citizens at home and abroad.
A similar terror alert was issued after a U.S. NAVY SEAL team attacked bin Laden's Pakistan compound and killed the elusive terror leader.
While the U.S. said the Yemeni attack is yet another decisive blow against global terror, security analyst Sunil Ram said the deaths of al-Awlaki and Khan may not be a decisive, long-term blow.
"He was far more significant to the psyche of the Americans, because they understood what he said," Ram told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel Saturday evening.
"He was an American, he knew how to speak to the American audience. Therefore, they focused a lot of energy (on him), as they did with his protégé, Khan."
While al-Awlaki was most adept at speaking to disaffected Muslims in the West, his importance in the global terror hierarchy shouldn't be overstated, Ram added.
Echoing that opinion, scholar Christopher Boucek noted that the reported death of al-Asiri, the Saudi bomb-maker, could be more significant.
Boucek, who studies Yemen and al Qaeda, said al-Asiri's death has the potential to "overshadow" those of al-Awlaki and Khan, because of the explosive expert's operational abilities.
Asiri, 29, has been blamed for a series of brazen, unorthodox bombing attempts in recent years. Asiri's work was linked to the so-called Nigerian "underwear" bomber over Detroit, along with a 2010 mail-based plot that put bombs into computer printer cartridges.
Tracking target took weeks
According to a New York Times report, Yemeni officials provided intelligence that revealed al-Awlaki's whereabouts before the attack early Friday. The intelligence was based on "a tip that came from a recently captured" terror operative, the report said.
While the intelligence behind the attack wasn't clear Saturday, officials confirmed that the strike was the result of a three-week shadowing mission
involving U.S. drones and fighter jets.
At the time of the deadly hit, al-Awlaki and his convoy had been travelling between mountain strongholds in the Yemeni desert.
The Associated Press reported that al-Awlaki and his convoy were sitting on the ground and eating breakfast when they spotted the approaching U.S. drone.
The group attempted to flee, but the drone struck and incinerated their vehicle, according to a trial chief who witnessed the strike.
