Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed the death of its deputy leader Saeed al-Shehri in a US drone attack.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed the death of its deputy leader Saeed al-Shehri in a US drone attack.

"Sheikh Saeed al-Shehri, aka Abu Sufyan al-Azdi, was killed in a US drone strike," said a leader in Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ibrahim al-Rubaish in a video posted on Islamist websites Wednesday.

Rubaish gave no indication of when Shehri was killed.

Shehri’s killing has been announced a number of times by Yemeni authorities, most recently on January 24. In April, AQAP released an audio message purported to be a newly-delivered address by Shehri.

Last October, Shehri himself denied a September announcement by Yemen's defense ministry that he had been killed in an army raid, in an audio message posted on extremist Internet forums.

He had been hounded by Yemen's security forces and had survived a number of attempts on his life.