Pakistan says a senior, Egyptian-born al-Qaida leader has been killed in a mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials say Abu Hamza Rabia was al-Qaida's senior international operations commander.
Officials say the militant leader was one of five militants killed Thursday in the North Waziristan tribal region, where Pakistani forces are engaged in anti-terror operations.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf confirmed Rabia's death while talking to reporters during a visit to Kuwait Saturday.
"Two-hundred percent confirmed," he said. " It was in North Waziristan Agency. I think he was killed the day before yesterday."
There are conflicting reports about how exactly Hamza Rabia died.
Pakistani officials say he was killed by an explosion sparked by bomb-making materials stored inside the militants' hideout.
However, local residents are reported as saying they saw an unmanned aircraft fire a series of missiles into the mud house.
In May, Hamza Rabia's associate and former al-Qaida operations chief, Abu Faraj al-Libbi, was captured in the same region close to the Afghan border.
U.S. officials have suggested al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden may also be in the same area.
Pakistan has some 80,000 troops stationed along the border area in a massive hunt for al-Qaida and Taleban militants.