In the dark of night the vehicle bumped along the uneven ground as it sped along in the outskirts of Khasaf in Northwestern Yemen. Small rocks and debris hit the undercarriage of the truck, making for an irregular beat against the steady hum of the engine. Al-Awlaki peered out the window, surveying the dark desert landscape. He cocked his head upwards, toward the sky – it was empty.

Al-Awlaki was pushed back in his seat, bouncing up and down as the truck raced over a large rut in the road. Next to him sat the young blogger Samir Khan, the co-editor the English-language Al Qaeda web magazine, Inspire. Traveling at night was often the best defense against observation and al-Awlaki had good reason to avoid detection. At 40, al-Awlaki, relatively unknown outside of intelligence and specialist circles, had become a household name after President Barack Obama placed him on the CIA capture or kill list in April 2010. As the head of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula he used his flawless English to inspire global jihadism against America and her allies and now he had become a major target for the United States.