Al Qaeda's chief of operations in Pakistan was killed earlier this week, senior administration officials said today.

Abu Hafs al-Shahri, killed in Pakistan's Waziristan region, "played a key operational and administrative role for the group," a senior official told ABC News.

The official said al-Shahri was the terror leader tasked with plotting al Qaeda's anti-U.S. operations in the region and worked with the Pakistani Taliban to launch attacks in Pakistan.

"This is another blow at the core of al Qaeda in Pakistan," the official said.