In a video statement released early on Tuesday by the media wing of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the group confirmed his death and said his deputy, Qassim al-Rimi, has been named its new leader.
Wuhayshi was the deputy of the al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, and once served as Osama bin Laden’s personal secretary.
"Our Muslim nation, a hero of your heroes and a master of your masters left to God, steadfast," senior operative Khaled Batrafi said in the video, vowing that the group's war on America would continue.
"In the name of God, the blood of these pioneers make us more determined to sacrifice," he said. "Let the enemies know that the battle is not with an individual ... the battle led by crusaders and their agents is colliding with a billion-member nation."
There was no immediate statement from U.S. officials, who had been working to confirm al-Wuhayshi's death even as social media accounts affiliated with extremist groups were reporting it. A counter-terrorism source who tracks social media accounts tied to Al Qaeda and ISIS told Fox News late Monday that a credible account based in Yemen was reporting that al-Wuhayshi had been killed in the CIA strike and al-Rimi was AQAP's new leader.
The US State Department offered a $10m (£6.4m) reward for anyone who could help bring al-Wuhayshi to justice.
It said he was "responsible for approving targets, recruiting new members, allocating resources to training and attack planning, and tasking others to carry out attacks".
The group has also been able to expand its reach in recent months as Yemen has slid into chaos. Shiite rebels known as Houthis captured Sanaa last year and are battling southern separatists, Islamic militants and local and tribal militias across the country. Yemen’s military, once a close U.S. ally against al-Qaida, has split between opponents and supporters of the rebels, and a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing the Houthis and their allies since March.
As al-Qaida leaders have been captured or killed, Schiff said, “Zawahri has been increasingly reliant on a small cadre of loyal lieutenants. As one of those top lieutenants, Wuhayshi has played an important role in keeping al-Qaida factions aligned with Zawahri in the face of rival pressures” from the Islamic State group.
The group’s master bombmaker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, is believed to still be alive. He is thought to have designed bombs that were slipped past security and placed on three separate American-bound airplanes, although none of them exploded.
