One of the most wanted leaders of al-Qaeda, Ilyas Kashmiri, is reported to have been killed by a US missile strike in Pakistan.

A mobile phone video taken by a local tribesman showed several bodies wrapped in white sheets lying in an orchard where the missiles are said to have exploded. Pakistani authorities say they are almost certain of the death, but the lack of a body still leaves some room for doubt.

Ilyas Kashmiri was on a list of the five most-wanted militants believed to be in Pakistan. Friday's strike comes a month after the US raid that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Meanwhile, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has condemned the US strikes as what he called a "violation of sovereignty." He said the strikes have caused a lot of collateral damage in Pakistan and Afghanistan.