The Yemeni news group al-Masdar Online said al-Wuhayshi was killed in an attack in Hadramawt province last Friday.

He is seen as al-Qaeda's second-in-command and was a former private secretary to Osama Bin Laden.

The Pentagon said it would not comment.

The Site intelligence group said reports circulating among Yemeni jihadi networks earlier on Monday spoke of al-Wuhayshi's death.

Rita Katz, Site's director, said that, if confirmed, the news would be the biggest strike on al-Qaeda since Bin Laden's death in Pakistani in 2011.

Amal al-Yarisi, a reporter with the Yemen Times, said sources close to al-Qaeda had confirmed the death to her.

The US Department of State offered a $10m (£6.4m) reward for anyone who could help bring al-Wuhayshi to justice.

It said he "is responsible for approving targets, recruiting new members, allocating resources to training and attack planning, and tasking others to carry out attacks."

He became head of AQAP when the Yemeni and Saudi branches of al-Qaeda merged in 2009.