Dead Or Alive? Al-Qaida's No. 2 Targeted In US Drone Strike

Al-Qaida's second-in-command was reportedly at the site of a drone strike in northwestern Pakistan, but his death has not yet been confirmed, a U.S. official announced Tuesday.

The senior al-Qaida commander Abu Yahya al-Libi was the primary target in a U.S. drone strike Monday in a remote village in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area.

Local residents told Pakistani intelligence agents that al-Libi was in a mud-and-brick house that was completely leveled in the attack. A vehicle used by al-Libi, identified at the site, was also destroyed.

U.S. intelligence agents also intercepted a phone call in which an al-Qaida militant indicated that an Arab was killed in the attack, which may have been referring to al-Libi, who is from Libya, the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. has conducted a series of drone strikes in the past decade along the mountainous border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has become a refuge for al-Qaida operatives. The Pakistani government is opposed to drone strikes within its borders, but the U.S. maintains that they will continue as long as al-Qaida is allowed to operate in the region.