Al Qaeda leader killed in drone strike in Libya: Reports

Abu Talha al-Hassnawi, a senior member of al-Qaeda’s North African affiliate, was killed when a drone struck his house late Monday in Sabha.

Libya’s official news agency says a senior al Qaeda leader has been killed in a drone strike in the country’s remote south.

A fighter from Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front holds his group flag. (AP File Photo)

LANA reports that Abu Talha al-Hassnawi, a senior member of al Qaeda’s North African affiliate, was killed when a drone struck his house late Monday in Sabha. The agency says al-Hassnawi had fled from the northern coastal city of Sirte, where Libyan militias are battling IS with the help of US airstrikes.

The agency says al-Hassnawi was previously a leading member of al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, and was a leading recruiter of fighters heading there.