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This is a list of individuals who have been the targets of assassination by the United States. American authorities usually define these killings as 'targeted killings'.
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This is a list of individuals who have been the targets of assassination by the United States. American authorities usually define these killings as 'targeted killings'.
| Target | Position | Date | Location | Country | Nationality | Method | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isoroku Yamamoto | Gensui of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, mastermind of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. | 1943-04-18 | Bougainville Island |  Territory of New Guinea |  Japan | Plane shot down. | Part of Operation Vengeance. [1] |
| Viet Cong operatives | Various. | 1966–1972 | Various |  South Vietnam |  North Vietnam | Torture murder. | Part of Phoenix Program. [1] |
| Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi | Participant in the USS Cole bombing. | 2002-11-03 | Sanaa |  Yemen | Yemen | Drone strike. | |
| Various Iraqi insurgent groups including Al-Qaeda in Iraq, ex-Ba'athists (FRLs), Special Groups backed by Iran etc. | Various, 1000+ HVTs assassinated. | 2003–2009 | Throughout Iraq |  Iraq | Various | Drone/air strikes, sniper operations, bombings, raids etc. | Assassination campaign carried out by JSOC and CIA paramilitaries in secret to quell the anti-U.S. insurgency in Iraq. [2] [3] [4] [5] |
| Haitham al-Yemeni | Explosives expert for Al-Qaeda. | 2005-05-08 | North Waziristan |  Pakistan | Yemen | Drone strike. | |
| Abu Hamza Rabia | Third highest Al-Qaeda leader. | 2005-12-01 | North Waziristan | Pakistan |  Egypt | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Abu Musab al-Zarqawi | Leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. | 2006-06-07 | Baqubah, Diyala Governorate |  Iraq |  Jordan | Air strike. | JSOC air strike. [7] |
| Abu Laith al-Libi | Senior commander of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. | 2008-01-29 | North Waziristan | Pakistan |  Libya | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Imad Mughniya | Deputy commander of Hezbollah and assassin. | 2008-02-12 | Damascus |  Syria |  Lebanon | Car bombing. | Joint C.I.A.–Mossad operation. |
| Abu Khabab al-Masri | Head of Al-Qaeda chemical weapons programme. | 2008-07-28 | South Waziristan | Pakistan | Egypt | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Abu Wafa al Saudi | Involved in Al-Qaeda logistics. | 2008-09-04 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Abu Haris | Al-Qaeda commander. | 2008-09-08 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Khalid Habib | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2008-10-16 | near Taparghai | Pakistan | Egypt | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Mohammad Hasan Khalil al-Hakim | Head of Al-Qaeda propaganda. | 2008-10-31 | North Waziristan | Pakistan | Egypt | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Abu Zubair al-Masri | Explosives expert for Al-Qaeda. | 2008-11-22 | North Waziristan | Pakistan | Egypt | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Rashid Rauf | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2008-11-22 | North Waziristan | Pakistan |  United Kingdom | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam | One of the perpetrators of the 1998 United States embassy bombings. | 2009-01-01 | Pakistan |  Kenya | Drone strike. | [6] | |
| Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan | One of the perpetrators of the 1998 United States embassy bombings. | 2009-01-01 | Pakistan | Kenya | Drone strike. | [8] | |
| Baitullah Mehsud | Leader of Tehrik-i-Taliban. | 2009-08-05 | South Waziristan | Pakistan | Pakistan | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Tohir Yoʻldosh | Leader of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. | 2009-08-27 | Zhob, Balochistan | Pakistan |  Uzbekistan | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Najmiddin Jalolov | Leader of Islamic Jihad Union. | 2009-09-14 | Pakistan | Uzbekistan | Drone strike. | [6] | |
| Saleh al-Somali | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2009-12-08 | Federally Administered Tribal Areas | Pakistan |  Somalia | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Abdullah Said al Libi | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2009-12-17 | North Waziristan | Pakistan | Libya | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Sa'ad bin Laden | One of Osama bin Laden's sons. [9] | 2009 | Pakistan |  Saudi Arabia | Drone strike. | ||
| Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali | Participant in the 1998 United States embassy bombings. | 2010 | Pakistan | Egypt | Drone strike. | ||
| Qari Mohammad Zarif | Leader of Fada'iyan-e Islam. | 2010-02-24 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Saeed al-Masri | Head of Al-Qaeda finances. | 2010-05-21 | Boya, North Waziristan | Pakistan | Egypt | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Hamza al-Jufi | Leader of Jundallah. | 2010-06-29 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Sheikh al-Fatah | Leader of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. | 2010-09-25 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Abu Ibrahim | Leader of Fursan-i-Mohammed. | 2010-10-06 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Sheik Fateh al Masri | Top commander of the Lashkar al Zil. [9] | 2010-12 | Drone strike. | ||||
| Abu Zaid al-Iraqi | Head of Al-Qaeda finances in Pakistan. | 2011-02-20 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Osama bin Laden | Leader of Al-Qaeda, mastermind of the September 11 attacks. | 2011-05-02 | Bilal Town, Abbottabad | Pakistan | Saudi Arabia | United States Navy SEALs raid. | |
| Ilyas Kashmiri | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2011-06-03 | North Waziristan | Pakistan | Pakistan | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Atiyah Abd al-Rahman | Osama bin Laden's Chief of Staff. | 2011-08-22 | North Waziristan | Pakistan | Libya | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Abu Hafs al-Shahri | Al-Qaeda commander. | 2011-09-11 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Anwar al-Awlaki | Member of Al-Qaeda. | 2011-09-30 | Al Jawf | Yemen |  United States | Drone strike. | |
| Abu Miqdad al Masri | Member of Al-Qaeda. | 2011-10-14 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Aslam Awan | Deputy leader of external operations for Al-Qaeda. | 2012-01-10 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Bader Mansoor | Leader of an Al-Qaeda affiliate. | 2012-02-09 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Abu Yahya al-Libi | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2012-06-04 | Mir Ali | Pakistan |  Libya | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Usman Adil | Leader of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. | 2012-04-29 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Abdul Shakoor al-Turkistani | Turkistan Islamic Party. | 2012-08-24 | North Waziristan | Pakistan |  China | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Yaseen al Somali | Deputy Commander for Al-Qaeda training. | 2013-01-08 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Abu Ubaydah Abdullah al-Adam | Commander for Al-Qaeda intelligence. | 2013-04-14 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Abu Saif al Jaziri | Senior commander for training of Al-Qaeda. | 2013-07-03 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Ahmed Abdi Godane | Leader of Al-Shabaab. [9] | 2014-09-01 | Hawaay, Lower Shabelle | Somalia | Somalia | Drone strike. | |
| Sheikh Imran Ali Siddi | Leader of Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent. | 2014-10-11 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Umar Farooq | Commander of Al-Qaeda. | 2014-12-07 | Drone strike. | [6] | |||
| Adam Yahiye Gadahn | Al-Qaeda spokesperson and media advisor. | 2015-01-19 | Waziristan | Pakistan | United States | Drone strike. | [6] |
| Adan Garar | Suspected of a role in the Westgate Mall attack. [9] | 2015-03 | Drone strike. | ||||
| Ibrahim Sulayman Muhammad Arbaysh | Senior member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. | 2015-04-12 | Hadhramaut | Yemen | Saudi Arabia | Drone strike. | |
| Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi | Senior member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. | 2015-05-07 | Mukalla | Yemen | Yemen | Drone strike. | |
| Hamza bin Laden | Son of Osama bin Laden, emerging leader of al-Qaeda | 2017-2019 |  Afghanistan | Saudi Arabia | Details remain scarce. [10] | ||
| Qasem Soleimani | Commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. | 2020-01-03 | Baghdad | Iraq |  Iran | Drone strike. | Soleimani was the second most powerful person in Iran. [11] |
| Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis | Deputy Chairman of the Popular Mobilization Forces. | 2020-01-03 | Baghdad | Iraq | Iraq | Drone strike. | One of Iraq’s most powerful men. [12] |
| Qasim al-Raymi | Leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. | 2020-02-07 | Wald Rabi' District, Al Bayda Governorate | Yemen | Yemen | Drone strike. | [13] [14] |
| Maher al-Agal | Leader of ISIS in Syria. | 2022-07-12 | Jindires, Aleppo Governorate | Syria | Drone strike. | ||
| Ayman al-Zawahiri | Leader of Al-Qaeda. | 2022-07-31 | Kabul | Afghanistan | Egypt | Drone strike. | |
| Usamah al-Muhajir | Leader of ISIS forces in East Syria. | 2023-07-09 | Aleppo Governorate | Syria | Drone strike. | [15] [16] | |
| Mushtaq Talib Al-Saeedi (Abu Taqwa) | Senior Commander of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba. | 2024-01-04 | Baghdad | Iraq | Iraq | Drone strike. | [17] |
| Wissam al-Saadi (Abu Bakr) | Senior Commander of Kata'ib Hezbollah. | 2024-02-07 | Baghdad | Iraq | Iraq | Drone strike. | He was in charge of Kata'ib Hezbollah’s operations in Syria. [18] [19] |
| Arkan al-Alawi | Senior Kata'ib Hezbollah commander and intelligence operative. | 2024-02-07 | Baghdad | Iraq | Iraq | Drone strike. | [20] [21] |
| Target | Position | Date | Location | Country | Nationality | Method | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muammar Gaddafi | Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution of Libya. | 1986-04-15 | Bab al-Azizia | Libya | Libya | Air strike. | Part of the 1986 United States bombing of Libya. [1] |
| Saddam Hussein | President of Iraq | 2003-03-19 | Dora Farm Complex, Dora, Baghdad |  Iraq | Iraq | Air strike. | The George W. Bush Presidency authorized the U.S. military to launch "decapitation strikes", prior to the invasion of Iraq. [22] [23] |
| Ahmad Shah | Leader of an anti-coalition militia (ACM) | 2005-06-27 | Sawtalo Sar, Kunar |  Afghanistan | Afghanistan | SEAL Team and U.S. Marines raid. | Part of Operation Red Wings, Resulted in the death of 19 U.S. soldiers including a 4-man SEAL reconnaissance team. |
| Abdul Reza Shahlai | IRGC-QF Brigadier General | 2020-01-03 | Sana’a | Yemen | Iran | Drone strike. | U.S. Special Operations Forces tried to liquidate Shahlai as part of an American effort to cripple the leadership of Iran's Quds Force. [24] |
| Target | Position | Nationality | Method | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fidel Castro | Prime Minister of Cuba, President of Cuba, and First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party. |  Cuba | Reported by the Church Committee. [1] | |
| Patrice Lumumba | Prime Minister of Congo-Leopoldville |  Congo-Léopoldville | Reported by the Church Committee. [1] | |
| Rafael Trujillo | President of the Dominican Republic |  Dominican Republic | Reported by the Church Committee. [1] | |
| Ngo Dinh Diem | President of South Vietnam | South Vietnam | Reported by the Church Committee. [1] | |
| René Schneider | Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army |  Chile | Reported by the Church Committee. [1] | |
| Sukarno | President of Indonesia |  Indonesia | Reported by the Rockefeller Commission [25] |
The following is a timeline of major events during the Iraq War, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Special Activities Center (SAC) is a division of the United States Central Intelligence Agency responsible for covert and paramilitary operations. The unit was named Special Activities Division (SAD) prior to 2015. Within SAC there are two separate groups: SAC/SOG for tactical paramilitary operations and SAC/PAG for covert political action.
An Iraqi insurgency began shortly after the 2003 American invasion deposed longtime leader Saddam Hussein. It is considered to have lasted until the end of the Iraq War and U.S. withdrawal in 2011. It was followed by a renewed insurgency.
The Iraqi National Intelligence Service is the chief intelligence agency of Iraq. It was created with the help of the CIA to replace the Mukhabarat, after the latter was dissolved.
The Quds Force is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Force as an organization analogous to a combination of the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the United States. Responsible for extraterritorial operations, the Quds Force supports non-state actors in many countries, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthi movement, and Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. According to Michael Wigginton et al., the Al-Quds Force is "a classic example of state-sponsored terrorism."
Task Force 6–26 is a United States Joint military/Government Agency, originally set-up to find "High-Value Targets" (HVT's) in Iraq in the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This Special Operations unit is very similar to JSOC Task Force 121 which was created to capture Saddam Hussein and high-ranking Al-Qaeda members. The various name changes seen by the group are to ensure Operational Security, although their makeup and goals largely remain the same. The main objective of Task Force 6–26 was the capture or liquidation of terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who led Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The unit is made up of U.S. Special Operations Forces members including Delta Force, DEVGRU, 24th Special Tactics Squadron and the 75th Ranger Regiment along with the CIA's Special Activities Center. Other military and DIA personnel are believed to have been involved as 'limited' members of the unit, along with FBI agents.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh, was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq and being responsible for a series of bombings, beheadings, and attacks during the Iraq War, reportedly "turning an insurgency against US troops" in Iraq "into a Shia–Sunni civil war". He was sometimes known by his supporters as the "Sheikh of the slaughterers".
Hassan Ghul, born Mustafa Hajji Muhammad Khan, was a Saudi-born Pakistani member of al-Qaeda who revealed the kunya of Osama bin Laden's messenger, which eventually led to Operation Neptune Spear and the death of Osama Bin Laden. Ghul was an ethnic Pashtun whose family was from Waziristan. He was designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Security Council in 2012.
Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been embroiled in tense relations with the U.S. and its allies. Following the hostage crisis, both countries severed relations. Since then, both countries have been involved in numerous direct confrontations, diplomatic incidents, and proxy wars throughout the Middle East, which has caused the tense nature of the relationship between the two to be called an 'international crisis'. Both countries have often accused each other of breaking international law on several occasions. The U.S. has often accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and of illegally maintaining a nuclear program, as well as using strong rhetoric against Israel, of which Iran has questioned its legitimacy and its right to exist while supporting Hamas, an antizionist terrorist group in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Iran has often accused the U.S. of human rights violations and of meddling in their affairs, especially within the Iranian Democracy Movement.
Qasem Soleimani was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination by the United States in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds Force, an IRGC division primarily responsible for extraterritorial and clandestine military operations, and played a key role in the Syrian Civil War through securing Russian intervention. He was described as "the single most powerful operative in the Middle East" and a "genius of asymmetric warfare." Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen said Soleimani's strategies had "personally tightened a noose around Israel's neck."
The United States (U.S.) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been involved in covert actions and contingency planning in Iraq ever since the 1958 overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy, although the historiography of Iraq–United States relations prior to the 1980s is considered relatively underdeveloped, with the first in-depth academic studies being published in the 2010s.
Kata'ib Hezbollah, also known as the Hezbollah Brigades, is a radical Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group which is a part of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), staffing the 45th, 46th, and 47th Brigades. During the Iraq War (2003–11), the group fought against Coalition forces. It has been active in the War in Iraq (2013–2017) and the Syrian Civil War. The group was commanded by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis until he was killed in a US drone attack in 2020. Thereafter, Abdul Aziz al-Muhammadawi became the new leader of the PMF. The group seeks to establish an Iran-aligned government in Iraq, expel American forces from the country, and advance the regional and international interests of Iran in Iraq and the region. The group is responsible for killing hundreds of U.S. soldiers and takes a central part in carrying out attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq and acts as part of the Axis of Resistance. Kata'ib Hezbollah has received extensive training, funding, logistic support, weapons, and intelligence from the IRGC's overseas military-intelligence service Quds Force.
The Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen is an ongoing armed conflict between the Yemeni government, the United States and their allies, and al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Yemen. It is a part of the Global War on Terror.
Targeted killing is a form of assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.
United States drone strikes in Yemen started after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, when the US military attacked the Islamist militant presence in Yemen, in particular Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula using drone warfare.
Jamal Ja'far Muhammad Ali Al Ibrahim, known by the kunyaAbu Mahdi al-Muhandis was an Iraqi commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). At the time of his death, he was deputy chief of the PMF and regarded as one of Iraq's most powerful men.
On 3 January 2020, Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general, was killed by an American drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, while travelling to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.
Starting on 17 October 2023, and in response to United States support for Israel in the Israel–Hamas war, Iran-backed militias initiated a coordinated series of more than 170 attacks on U.S. military bases and assets in Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. These attacks resulted in injuries to dozens of U.S. service members. In retaliation, the U.S. has launched multiple counterattacks, resulting in the death of over 30 militants including a senior commander of the Nujaba Movement, Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi. In February 2024, following U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, militia attacks against U.S. forces were halted.
Events of the year 2024 in Iraq.
On 2 February 2024, the United States Air Force launched a series of airstrikes targeting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran-backed militia groups located in Iraq and Syria. The attack was launched in retaliation against a drone strike carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeting US troops in Jordan the week before, which killed three U.S. troops.
December 2009: Abdullah Said al Libi, top commander of the Lashkar al Zil, al-Qaeda's shadow army. Killed in Pakistan.
Stealth bombs and cruise missiles hit the target in the grounds of the Dora Farm complex where Saddam's daughters live. But the intelligence tip is inaccurate -- Saddam is not there.