Senior al-Qaeda leader reportedly killed in Afghanistan

Reports say Al-Qaeda's number three leader and Afghan operations chief, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, has been killed. Mr Yazid, also known as Sheikh Said al-Masri, died along with his wife and three children, Islamist websites said, quoting a statement from al-Qaeda. US officials say they believe he was killed recently in the tribal areas of Pakistan in an American drone attack. Previous reports of his death have been wrong, but this is the first time al-Qaeda has acknowledged such claims. American officials often refer to the Egyptian-born militant as the main conduit to leader Osama Bin Laden. As al-Qaeda's operational commander in Afghanistan, he is believed to have had a hand in everything from finances to operational planning.

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US kills terrorist in Pakistan but misses Mehsud

A US missile strike in Pakistan killed one of the FBI's most-wanted terrorists, a man suspected in a deadly 1986 plane hijacking with a $5 million bounty on his head, three Pakistani intelligence officials said Friday. The death would be the latest victory for the CIA-led missile campaign against terrorist targets in Pakistan's insurgent-riddled tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, a campaign that has recently escalated. One Thursday is believed to have missed Pakistan's Taliban chief.

The intelligence officials said that a Jan. 9 missile strike in the North Waziristan tribal region killed Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim. The FBI's Web site lists him as a Palestinian with possible Lebanese citizenship. The Pakistani officials called him an al-Qaeda member, but the FBI site says he was a member of the Abu Nidal Palestinian terrorist group. Rahim was wanted for his alleged role in the Sept. 5, 1986, hijacking of Pan American World Airways Flight 73 during a stop in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.

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Update: Al-Qaida leader killed in Pakistan not al-Libi

The al-Qaida extremist killed Tuesday by a U.S. drone strike in northern Pakistan was the group's director of external operations, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told NBC News on Friday.

Abdirizaq Abdi Saleh, better known by his nom de guerre Saleh al-Somali, was a member of al-Qaida's senior leadership, said the official, and "probably responsible" for planning and executing attacks in the U.S. and Europe.

Al-Somali was killed when two missiles fired from a Predator drone struck his car as he and another man left a home. While al-Somali was a senior official, he was not al-Qaida's No. 3 leader after Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The U.S. has long targeted men who held al-Qaida's No. 3 role as director of all international operations. Five of them, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is facing trial in New York, have been killed or captured since 9/11. The strike marks the first time coalition forces killed a top al-Qaida figure in almost a year.

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Al-Qaeda Leader Possibly Killed in CIA Drone Attack

A Central Intelligence Agency drone is believed to have killed a top strategist and spokesman for al Qaeda, Abu Yahya al-Libi, in the tribal areas of Pakistan near the Afghan border, according to officials familiar with the strike.

Top Al Qaeda strategist Abu Yahya al-Libi is believed to have been killed by a CIA drone. Mr. al-Libi has been one of the most sought-after terrorist targets since his escape from the prison at Bagram Air Force base in 2005. A rising star in al Qaeda, he was on the CIA's list of top-20 al Qaeda targets, according to an official familiar with the list.

He was killed Tuesday near Miram Shah in North Waziristan. He was believed to be under the protection of the Haqqani network, a militant group with a tight relationship with al Qaeda. The State Department announced a $1 million award earlier this year for information leading to his capture. "Based on a Pakistani tip, the Americans got him," one official said.

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Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud Suspected Killed

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - There is a strong likelihood that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed along with his wife and bodyguards in a missile attack two days ago, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters. "We suspect he was killed in the missile strike," Malik said on Friday. "We have some information, but we don't have material evidence to confirm it."

The United States has placed a $5 million reward on the head of Mehsud, an ally of al Qaeda widely regarded in Pakistan as Public Enemy No. 1. However, a U.S. defense official, speaking anonymously in Washington, said he had seen no indications that Mehsud had been killed in the strike.

The attack in a tribal region of northwest Pakistan was believed to have been carried out by a pilotless U.S. drone aircraft at around 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Neither the Pakistan nor U.S. governments confirm such attacks because of sensitivities over violation of Pakistan's territorial sovereignty.

Intelligence officials and relatives had confirmed earlier that Mehsud's second wife had been killed in the missile strike that targeted her father's home in an outlying settlement close to Makeen village in the South Waziristan tribal region. A relative of Mehsud's dead wife had initially said the Taliban leader wasn't present when the missiles struck, but rumors that he had either been wounded or killed refused to die down.

"Pakistani Taliban chief likely killed: minister", Reuters, 8/6/09.

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