Pakistan is investigating reports that a CIA missile strike killed a senior al-Qaeda commander as he traveled in a tribal region near the Afghan border, security officials said Wednesday.

If confirmed, Sheikh Fateh al-Misri's death would be the covert US missile program's latest blow to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. Al-Misri is believed to have replaced Mustafa al-Yazid, who was killed in a missile strike in May and characterized by the group as its No. 3 commander.

Click to view image: '1aca8a26aa3f-_45931149_waziristan_nwfp_pakistan_tribal_466.gif'
Still, reports of such deaths are difficult to fully verify, and many who are reported to have been killed have turned up alive later.

Al-Misri was believed to be in a vehicle in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region when a drone-fired missile struck him Saturday, two Pakistani security officials said. They said they received reports from agents in the field, but did not have a body or other indisputable confirmation of his death.