The White House has welcomed the killing of Al-Qaeda number three Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, and said it was "unquestionably a severe blow" to the global terror network.

"We welcome his demise," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, after a Pakistani security official said there was "reason to believe" Yazid was dead, and was probably killed in a drone attack in North Waziristan in late May.

Mr Gibbs said he had spoken to President Barack Obama's top counter-terror official John Brennan who told him Yazid, Al-Qaeda's finance specialist, was "the biggest target to be either killed or captured in five years."

His death was "unquestionably a severe blow" to the organization, he said.

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