Senior al Qaeda Leader Killed in Pakistan?

Pakistani television is reporting that senior al Qaeda (AQ) Aleader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid has been killed in heavy fighting in the Bajaur tribal region. Pakistan has stepped up its attacks on the region bordering Afghanistan which has become a stronghold for AQ and Taliban terrorists.

Al-Yazid is the top AQ commander in Afghanistan, and also goes by the names Sheikh Saeed and Abu Saeed al-Masri. It is believed that he was the third-most senior leader in al-Qaeda behind Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

These reports are unconfirmed at this time, and it is unknown whether al-Yazid and al-Masri are the same individual.