US missile strike kills al Qaeda commander

A senior al-Qaeda leader has been killed in a suspected US drone missile strike in Pakistan, officials say.


The officials said Sheikh Fateh took over as al-Qaeda's chief of operations for Afghanistan and Pakistan in May after al-Qaeda's number three leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid was killed.

One of the sources said al Masri was killed recently, and the other said he was killed in a strike on Sunday. The sources did not want to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Al Masri was emir, or leader, for Qaidat al-Jihad fi Khorasan, or the base of the jihad in the Khorasan -- the region that encompasses large areas of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Iran.

While the United States is the only country in the region of Pakistan and Afghanistan known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones -- which are controlled remotely -- U.S. officials normally do not comment on suspected drone strikes.

On Tuesday, a suspected U.S. drone strike killed four suspected militants in the country's tribal region, two intelligence officials told CNN. That strike followed similar attacks Saturday, Sunday and Monday that left eight suspected militants dead, the officials said

News agencies say there have been at least 20 suspected US drone missile attacks in September targeting militants in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.