CAIRO (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri confirmed in a video recording the death of Abu Yahya al-Libi, a veteran militant said to have been a leader of the group's operations, and who had survived previous U.S. attacks.

The U.S. government said in June that a drone strike in Pakistan had killed Libi, dealing the biggest in a series of blows to the militant group since the raid that killed Osama bin Laden last year.

"I proudly announce to the Muslim umma and to the mujdahideen (holy fighters) … the news of the martyrdom of Libya's lion Sheikh Hassan Mohammed Qaed," Zawahiri said in the video.

(Reporting by Ali Abdelatti; Writing by Mahmoud Habboush; editing by Christopher Wilson)