A senior al Qaeda leader, who claimed the group's responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the murder of an American hostage during a botched raid in December, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen, the country announced Thursday. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced the death of leader Nasr bin Ali al-Ansi and other operatives by a U.S. drone strike in a video, which was verified by security consulting firm and NBC News partner Flashpoint Intelligence. In an 11-minute militant video titled "Message regarding the blessed raid in Paris," al-Ansi said AQAP "chose the target, laid the plan and financed the operation," according to a translated transcript of the video put out by the group's official media wing.
