US Confirms: We Killed al-Qaeda's No. 2

Three US drone attacks in Pakistan over the past three days probably did little to mend US-Pakistan relations, but one of those attacks might do plenty to weaken al-Qaeda. A US official confirms that al-Qaeda's No. 2, Abu Yahya al-Libi, was killed in a strike yesterday, reports CNN. "This would be a major blow to 'core' al-Qaeda, removing the No. 2 leader twice in less than a year," a senior US official had earlier told the Washington Post, before the death was confirmed.

Intelligence experts last year said that al-Qaeda was down to just two senior officials, Ayman al-Zawahiri and al-Libi, who was considered "general manager" of the terrorist group's main branch. While Zawahiri has been criticized for his aloof, intellectual style, al-Libi was more popular and charismatic, in part because of his famed 2005 escape from a US prison in Afghanistan. (More Abu Yahya al-Libi stories.)