Property Of Self-Defense Targetings Of Members Of Al Qaeda And Applicable Principles of Distinction And Proportionality

The United States has engaged in the targeted killing of certain members of al Qaeda both within the theatre of an actual war in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, and outside the theatre of war as a matter of self-defense in areas such as Yemen, including the killing of United States national Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen on September 30, 2011.'