Top Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan killed: US official

WASHINGTON: The head of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and his lieutenant have been killed, a US counterterrorism official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP on Thursday.

"There is every reason to believe that these two top terrorist figures are dead," the source said, adding the pair were killed "within the last week."

The pair are believed to be Kenyan national Usama al-Kini, described as Al-Qaeda's chief of operations in Pakistan���who officials say was behind the September 2008 suicide attack on Islamabad's Marriott Hotel���and his lieutenant Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan.

The two are also on the FBI's most wanted list for links with the 1998 bombings of US embassies in East Africa.

Officials also believe al-Kini is tied to a failed assassination attempt on late Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.