Drone kills al-Qaeda leader

Published on 10/12/2012 00:00

A US drone strike has killed a senior al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan near the Afghan border, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Sheik Khalid bin Abdel Rehman al-Hussainan, also known as Abu Zaid al-Kuwaiti, was killed when missiles hit a house last Thursday near Mir Ali, in the North Waziristan tribal area, the officials said.

Al-Kuwaiti appeared in many videos released by al-Qaeda’s media wing, Al-Sahab, and was presented as a religious scholar for the group. This year, he replaced Abu Yahya al-Libi, al-Qaeda’s second in command, who was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan in June.