Nawar "Nora" al-Awlaki (Arabic: نوار العولقي; 2008/09 – January 29, 2017) the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki was killed on January 29, 2017, during the Raid on Yakla, a commando attack ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.[1][2][3][4]
Conducted in southern Yemen, the raid was an attempted attack on a branch of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda.[2] The raid in southern Yemen was conducted by the supersecret Joint Special Operations Command and was, according to a senior U.S. military official, intended to capture valuable intelligence, specifically computer equipment. According to U.S. officials, In addition to the death of Nawar al-Awlaki, a U.S. Navy S.E.A.L and three al Qaeda leaders were killed. [5]
Nawar al-Awlaki's death gained national coverage and attention in both mainstream and online media sources.[6][7][8] Nawar's grandfather, Nasser al-Awlaki, said of her killing, "She was hit with a bullet in her neck and suffered for two hours. Why kill children? This is the new U.S. administration – it's very sad, a big crime."[9] Nawar died with her mother and uncle by her side. Her alleged last words were, "Don't cry, mama. I'm fine."[10]
Nawar was the third member of her immediate family killed during military orders issued with executive powers. Her father, Anwar al-Awlaki, was the first to be killed by the executive branch when on September 30, 2011, CIA orders calling for a precision drone strike targeting him[11] were given presidential approval by President Barack Obama.[12] Anwar al-Awlaki was alleged by the U.S. government to be a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula that had gone "operational",[13] although the US government has refused to declassify much of the evidence that led them to this conclusion. Two weeks after the death of her father, Nawar's sixteen-year-old half-brother, Abdulrahman, was also killed in a U.S. drone strike.[14][15][16][17]
