Al-Qaida leaders killed in Pakistan

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A CIA drone struck targets in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, killing two top-ranking commanders of al-Qaida, sources say.

Villagers in the town of Mirali located in North Waziristan told Pakistani newspaper The News that two CIA drones were seen flying over the region since Monday morning.

Missile strikes, believed to be from those drones, killed seven, including two foreign militants. Mustafa al-Jaziri, an Algerian national and al-Qaida member, was thought to be killed in the attack, the report says.

The Long War Journal, an online intelligence site, said U.S. intelligence officials identified Jaziri as an "important and effective" leader and senior military commander for al-Qaida.

Unconfirmed reports say Pakistani guerrilla commander Ilyas Kashmiri was also killed in the attack. The Journal cites intelligence officials saying Kashmiri is "one of al-Qaida's most dangerous commanders."

The other fighters killed in the raid were identified as Arab and Uzbek mujahedin, though that was unconfirmed by official sources.

Missile strikes from aerial drones took out Baitullah Mehsud, then leader of the Pakistani Taliban, in an Aug. 5 strike on a village in South Waziristan.

Mehsud had pledged his support to al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, the head of the Taliban. He was also linked to the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.