The second in command of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was killed by a US drone attack in Yemen on Wednesday, AQAP officials said.
Of Saudi origin, Said Al Shehri was described by US officials as one of the most important Al Qaeda linked militants to have been released from the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, where he was taken in early 2002 after he was handed to the US authorities by Pakistan, according to Reuters.
Following his release from Guantanamo, he became the second in command for AQAP.
Yemeni authorities in January said that Al Shehri died from injuries inflicted by Yemeni security forces during a raid in November in the northern province of Saada, where there is a heavy Al Qaeda presence.
On Wednesday, high ranking AQAP official Ibrahim Al Rubaish posted a video online stating that Al Shehri had died in a drone attack, but he did not specify when, Reuters reported.
"I present my condolences to all the Mujahideen on the martyrdom of Said Al Shehri who was killed in a US drone attack," Rubaish said, according to Reuters.
AQAP is considered by many the most dangerous offshoot of the Sunni militant group, as it regularly mobilises and carries out international attacks.
