Al-Qaeda has confirmed that top leader Abu Khayr al-Masri, believed
to be the organisation's number two, was killed in an air strike by the
US-led coalition in Syria.In a statement two branches of the jihadist group, including the powerful al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), called Masri a "hero" and said he was killed "during a Crusader drone strike" in Syria.
A US official said that Washington was investigating reports that he had been killed in a US strike in or around the city of Idlib in northern Syria.