NEW YORK – An operation involving an armed CIA Predator drone firing on a terror suspect is believed to have killed senior Al Qaeda operative Haitham al-Yemeni (search) earlier this week in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, U.S. officials confirmed to FOX News.
This was not a U.S. military operation.
The Central Intelligence Agency has clearance from President Bush (search) to use its commission of armed Predator drones to target and take down Al Qaeda suspects.
The CIA declined public comment on this particular operation. Pakistan has denied the report.
Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Amhed (search) told The Associated Press that, "No such incident took place near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border."
Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, earlier this month arrested Abu Faraj al-libbi (search), reputed to be Al Qaeda's No. 3 leader.
FOX News' Bret Baier, Megan Dowd and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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