Top Al-Qaeda Leader Killed

The New York Times reports that the U.S. is believed to have successfully killed Al-Qaeda's third-highest ranking member:

U.S. intelligence agencies believe al Qaeda's No. 3 leader was killed recently in a missile strike in the tribal areas of Pakistan, officials said on Monday.

The CIA has stepped up the pace of unmanned aerial drone attacks, targeting not only high-level al Qaeda and Taliban targets but largely unknown foot soldiers as well.

A U.S. official said Sheikh Sa'id al-Masri, also known as Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, was widely seen as the group's No. 3 figure and its main conduit to leader Osama bin Laden. As al Qaeda's chief operating officer, he had a hand in everything from finances to operational planning.

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