List of assassinations by the United States
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'.
![]() | This list is incomplete; you can help by . (January 2020) |
Successful assassinations[]
Target | Position | Date | Location | Country | Nationality | Method | Notes | |
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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 | ![]() |
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Plane shot down. | Part of Operation Vengeance.[1] | |
Rafael Trujillo | President of the Dominican Republic | 1961-05-30 | Ciudad Trujillo | ![]() |
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ambushed by machine gun fire from rogue members of the Dominican Army | ||
Ngo Dinh Diem | President of the Republic of Vietnam | 1963-11-02 | Saigon | ![]() |
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arrested and executed by ARVN officers | part of the 1963 South Vietnamese coup | |
Viet Cong operatives | Various. | 1966-1972 | Various | ![]() |
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Various. | Part of Phoenix Program.[1] | |
Che Guevara | Marxist revolutionary, military leader of the 1959 Cuban Revolution | 1967-10-09 | La Higuera | ![]() |
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Executed by a Bolivian Army firing squad | Klaus Barbie suspected of involvement | |
René Schneider | commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army, constitutionalist | 1970-10-25 | Santiago | ![]() |
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assassinated by rogue Chilean Army officers | weapons and money were provided by the C.I.A. | |
Thomas Sankara | President of Burkina Faso, Pan-Africanist army officer | 1987-10-15 | Ouagadougou | ![]() |
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shot dead during a coup d'état by the military | ||
Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi | Participant in the USS Cole bombing. | 2002-11-03 | Sanaa | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | ||
Haitham al-Yemeni | Explosive expert for Al-Qaeda. | 2005-05-08 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | ||
Abu Hamza Rabia | Third highest Al-Qaeda leader. | 2005-12-01 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi | Leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. | 2006-06-07 | Baqubah | ![]() |
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Air strike. | ||
Abu Laith al-Libi | Senior commander of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. | 2008-01-29 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Imad Mughniya | deputy commander of Hezbollah and assassin | 2008-02-12 | Damascus | ![]() |
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car bombing | joint C.I.A.-Mossad operation | |
Abu Khabab al-Masri | Head of Al-Qaeda chemical weapons programme. | 2008-07-28 | South Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Involved in Al-Qaeda logistics. | 2008-09-04 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Al-Qaeda commander. | 2008-09-08 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Khalid Habib | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2008-10-16 | near Taparghai | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Mohammad Hasan Khalil al-Hakim | Head of Al-Qaeda propaganda. | 2008-10-31 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Abu Zubair al-Masri | Explosives expert for Al-Qaeda. | 2008-11-22 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Rashid Rauf | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2008-11-22 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam | One of the perpetrators of the 1998 United States embassy bombings. | 2009-01-01 | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | ||
Baitullah Mehsud | Leader of Tehrik-i-Taliban. | 2009-08-05 | South Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Tohir Yoʻldosh | Leader of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. | 2009-08-27 | Zhob | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Najmiddin Jalolov | Leader of Islamic Jihad Union. | 2009-09-14 | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | ||
Saleh al-Somali | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2009-12-08 | Federally Administered Tribal Areas | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Abdullah Said al Libi | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2009-12-17 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Sa'ad bin Laden | One of Osama bin Laden's sons.[3] | 2009 | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | |||
Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali | Participant in the 1998 United States embassy bombings. | 2010 | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | |||
Leader of Turkistan Islamic Party. | 2010-02-15 | ![]() |
Drone strike. | [2] | ||||
Leader of Fada'iyan-e Islam. | 2010-02-24 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Saeed al-Masri | Head of Al-Qaeda finances. | 2010-05-21 | Boya, North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Leader of Jundallah. | 2010-06-29 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Leader of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. | 2010-09-25 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Abu Ibrahim | Leader of . | 2010-10-06 | Drone strike. | [2] | ||||
Top commander of the Lashkar al Zil.[3] | 2010-12 | Drone strike. | ||||||
Head of Al-Qaeda finances in Pakistan. | 2011-02-20 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Osama bin Laden | Leader of Al-Qaeda, mastermind of the September 11 attacks. | 2011-05-02 | Bilal Town, Abbottabad | ![]() |
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United States Navy SEALs raid. | ||
Ilyas Kashmiri | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2011-06-03 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Atiyah Abd al-Rahman | Osama bin Laden's Chief of Staff. | 2011-08-22 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Al-Qaeda commander. | 2011-09-11 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Anwar al-Awlaki | Member of Al-Qaeda. | 2011-09-30 | Al Jawf | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | US citizen. | |
Member of Al-Qaeda. | 2011-10-14 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Deputy leader of external operations for Al-Qaeda. | 2012-01-10 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Leader of an Al-Qaeda affiliate. | 2012-02-09 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Abu Yahya al-Libi | Senior member of Al-Qaeda. | 2012-06-04 | Mir Ali | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Leader of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. | 2012-04-29 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Abdul Shakoor al-Turkistani | Turkistan Islamic Party. | 2012-08-24 | North Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Deputy Commander for Al-Qaeda training. | 2013-01-08 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Commander for Al-Qaeda intelligence. | 2013-04-14 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Senior commander for training of Al-Qaeda. | 2013-07-03 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Ahmed Abdi Godane | Leader of Al-Shabaab.[3] | 2014-09-01 | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | |||
Leader of Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent. | 2014-10-11 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Commander of Al-Qaeda. | 2014-12-07 | Drone strike. | [2] | |||||
Adam Yahiye Gadahn | Al-Qaeda spokesperson and media advisor. | 2015-01-19 | Waziristan | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | [2] | |
Suspected of a role in the Westgate Mall attack.[3] | 2015-03 | Drone strike. | ||||||
Ibrahim Sulayman Muhammad Arbaysh | Senior member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. | 2015-04-12 | Hadhramaut | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | ||
Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi | Senior member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. | 2015-05-07 | Mukalla | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | ||
Hamza bin Laden | Son of Osama bin Laden, emerging leader of al-Qaeda | 2017-2019 | ![]() |
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Details remain scarce.[4] | |||
Qasem Soleimani | Commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. | 2020-01-03 | Baghdad | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | ||
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis | Deputy Chairman of the Popular Mobilization Forces. | 2020-01-03 | Baghdad | ![]() |
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Drone strike. | ||
Qasim al-Raymi | Leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. | 2020-02-07 | Wald Rabi' District, Al Bayda Governorate | ![]() |
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Airstrike. | [5][6] |
Failed attempts[]
Target | Position | Date | Location | Country | Nationality | Method | Notes |
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Muammar Gaddafi | Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution of Libya. | 15 April 1986 | Bab al-Azizia | ![]() |
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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 | ![]() |
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Air strike |
The George W. Bush Presidency authorized the US military to make "decapitation" attempts, prior to the invasion of Iraq.[7] |
Ahmad Shah | Leader of an anti-coalition militia (ACM) | June 27, 2005 | Sawtalo Sar | ![]() |
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SEAL Team and US Marines | Part of Operation Red Wings, Resulted in the death of 19 US soldiers including a 4 man SEAL recon team. |
Planned but unexecuted assassinations[]
Target | Position | Nationality | Method | Notes |
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Fidel Castro | , President of Cuba, and First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party. | ![]() |
Reported by the Church Committee.[1] | |
Patrice Lumumba | Prime Minister of Congo-Leopoldville | ![]() |
Reported by the Church Committee.[1] | |
Rafael Trujillo | President of the Dominican Republic | ![]() |
Reported by the Church Committee.[1] | |
Ngo Dinh Diem | President of South Vietnam | ![]() |
Reported by the Church Committee.[1] | |
René Schneider | Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army | ![]() |
Reported by the Church Committee.[1] |
See also[]
- Drone strike
- Assassination and targeted killing by the CIA
- List of assassinations
- List of Israeli assassinations
- List of Iranian assassinations
- List of Soviet and Russian assassinations
- United States involvement in regime change
- Criticism of United States foreign policy
- Operation Condor
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Herbert, Jr, Riger G. (1992). Bullets with names: The deadly dilemma (PDF). Monterey, California: USN Naval Postgraduate School.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak "The Disposition Matrix". 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- ^ a b c d
"Prominent terrorist suspects killed in drone strikes". USA Today. 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
December 2009: Abdullah Said al Libi, top commander of the Lashkar al Zil, al-Qaeda's shadow army. Killed in Pakistan.
- ^ Sarah Westwood; Evan Perez; Ryan Browne (14 September 2019). "Trump confirms Osama bin Laden's son Hamza killed in US counterterrorism operation". CNN. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
- ^ "Al-Qaeda leader in Yemen killed by US strike". BBC News. 2020-02-07. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
- ^ "Exclusive: Local sources confirm the killing of Qassim Al-Raimi by US strike in Al-Baydha".
- ^
"operation iraqi freedom: A chronology of the six-week invasion of Iraq, drawn from the FRONTLINE documentary". PBS Frontline.
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.
Categories:
- Assassinations by the United States
- Lists of assassinations