US Drone Attack Kills Senior al-Qaida Commander

Tribal sources from Pakistan's northwest said on Saturday a U.S. drone attack had killed a senior al-Qaida commander in the latest blow to the militant Islamist group that has been targeted in many similar attacks.

Abu Zaid was killed in the drone strike on a hideout in Pakistan's North Waziristan, one of the tribal regions near the border with Afghanistan, early on Thursday, the sources said. Zaid had just moved to the hideout a few days ago, they said.

Pakistani security officials based in North Waziristan said they were aware of the death of a senior al-Qaida commander but could not confirm his identity or rank.

Zaid replaced Abu Yahya al-Libi as one of al-Qaida's most powerful figures in June after Libi was killed by a U.S. drone strike. Ten others were also killed in that attack.

Unmanned aerial attacks have crushed al-Qaida's network along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan but have drawn trenchant criticism in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Al-Qaida has been weakened steadily in Afghanistan and Pakistan since the killing of Osama bin Laden in a raid by U.S. special forces on a Pakistani garrison town in May 2011.