Top AQAP official reported killed -- again

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SANAA, Yemen, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- An official of al-Qaida's Yemeni affiliate purportedly was killed in an airstrike in the African country, the third time his death was reported by officials.

ABC News said reports from the region indicated Said al-Shihri, second-in-command for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, died in December from injuries sustained during a joint U.S.-Yemeni airstrike on a convoy in which he was riding.

ABC News said Tuesday it is the third time Shihri, a former detainee at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been reported dead since 2010. The report on the al-Arabiya network, citing "family sources," said Shihri was in a coma after the airstrike, died soon after and was buried in Yemen.

No photos of the body have been published and no mention of his death has been made in any forums frequented by jihadists, ABC News said.

In 2010, the Yemeni government claimed it captured and killed Shihri. In September, he reportedly was killed during a U.S. drone strike.