U.S. strike killed al-Qaeda’s No. 2 leader

Al-Qaeda’s No. 2 leader, Abu Yahya al-Libi, the charismatic commander who helped steer the terrorist group after Osama bin Laden’s death last year, was killed by a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan’s lawless frontier region, American officials confirmed Tuesday.

The Libyan jihadist, the second deputy commander of the group to be killed in 10 months, was among more than a dozen militants who died when an armed drone fired on a house early Monday in Pakistan’s North Waziristan, according to a U.S. official briefed on the events.

His death was viewed as a particularly heavy loss for al-Qaeda because of Libi’s almost unique standing as both a spiritual leader and operational manager for a terrorist organization that has been struggling since bin Laden’s death at the hands of Navy SEALs last May.

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