"I can confirm that General Giap died at 6:08 pm (1108 GMT) today," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity. A military source confirmed the time of death.
Giap, second only to late revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh as modern Vietnam's most revered figure, was a self-taught soldier and the founding father of the Vietnam People's Army, whose guerrilla tactics inspired anti-colonial fighters worldwide.
Vietnamese Internet users immediately begun paying tribute to the hugely popular general.