Key al-Qaida figure Said al-Shehri killed by air strike

Reuters/ Deputy leader of al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula, Said al-Shehri, a Saudi national identified as Guantanamo prisoner number 372, speaks in a video posted on Islamist websites, in this 2009 file image.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Yemeni armed forces have killed Said al-Shehri, a man seen as the second-in-command of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a government website said on Monday.

The Ministry of Defense website said Shehri was a Saudi national who was killed, along with six other militants. It gave no more details. An NBC News source in Yemen said Shehri he was killed by army operation in the Hadramout valley in the south-east of the country. 

The United States has used unmanned drones to target AQAP, which has planned attacks on international targets including airliners and is described by Washington as the most dangerous wing of al-Qaida.  More >>