A senior leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq has been killed in a US military operation, state-run al-Iraqiya TV reported.

Haitham al-Badri, al-Qaeda leader in Samarra, a city north of the capital Baghdad, was believed to be the mastermind behind the February 2006 bombing of the al-Askari mosque in Samarra, which pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war between Shias and Sunnis.

Officials also claimed al-Badri killed Atwar Bahjat, an Iraqi reporter for the pan-Arab al-Arabiya television network.

No further details were immediately available.