WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The al-Qaida terror network's No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahiri may have been killed in a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan, CNN reported on Friday, quoting U.S. sources.

    The attack was ordered by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)and was launched Friday on a village building near the Afghan border, said the report.

    Earlier, the ABC television also said that Zawahiri may have been among the victims of the U.S. attack.

    Quoting Pakistani military sources, the ABC report said that five of the 18 killed in the raid were "high-level al-Qaida figures".

    Zawahiri, along with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, have long escaped capture since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001. Enditem