Al Somali, al-Qaeda's operations planner, was killed in a US missile strike this week in northwestern Pakistan, American counterterrorism officials said.
Somali, a top al-Qaeda operative, was responsible for terror group's operations outside the Af-Pak region, reaching into terror strikes in Africa, ABC news reported quoting US counterterrorism and intelligence officers.
"There are strong indications that Saleh al-Somali, a senior al-Qaeda operations planner, has died," officials said. "He took strategic guidance from top commanders and translated it into operational blueprints for prospective terror attacks."
ABC said that the al-Qaeda commander was also involved in plotting attacks against US and Europe.
"Al Somali also had connections to other Pakistan-based terror groups," they said.
Al Somali had also worked in Pakistan's tribal areas with Westerners recruited by al Qaeda.
The strike, ABC said, was part of stepped up US campaign using Unmanned Predator drones against al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan under the new Obama administration. The Predators are fitted with infrared cameras and armed with precision-guided bombs and hellfire missiles.
ABC said earlier reports from Pakistan had suggested that the senior figure killed in the attack was al-Qaeda no three Abu Yahya al-Libi. The hellfire missiles felled Somali in Janikhel village just outside the north Waziristan tribal district.