Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki was an American-Yemeni lecturer assassinated in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. government drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki was the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and assassinated by a U.S. government drone strike. U.S. government officials alleged that al-Awlaki was a key organizer for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda.