At least six top al-Qaeda leaders killed in US drone attack

At least six top al-Qaeda leaders have been killed in fresh US drone strikes in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan.

The six al-Qaeda leaders were droned to death on July 10 at the Doga Mada Khel village in North Waziristan Agency's Datta Khel area - a well-known hub of al-Qaeda, Haqqani Network, Tehrik-e-Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Zil, the News International reports.

The top al-Qaeda leaders who were killed in drone strikes in Datta Khel includes Mustafa Abu Yazid, the chief operational commander of al-Qaeda and a close aide of Osama bin Laden, who had claimed responsibility for the 2007 murder of Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi, the report said.

However, identity of the others killed during the drone strikes could not be established at the time, as their bodies were immediately taken away.

It was only after a gap of ten days that Sanafi al Nasr, the head of al Qaeda's "Victory Committee", who is based in Syria and has close ties with al-Qaeda's general command in Pakistan, has stated that six of his "dearest comrades" were killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan, the report said.