U.S. officials will conduct DNA tests on the dead bodies left by a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan that apparently targeted al Qaeda's No. 2 leader, U.S. media reported Saturday.

The tests are aimed to determine whether Ayman al-Zawahri, deputy of al Qeada's top leader Osama bin Laden, was among the dead, U.S. media reported, quoting a U.S. law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The DNA tests will be performed in the United States, probably in the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, which has extensive DNA research capabilities and expertise, said the official.

However, Pakistani officials said Zawahri was not in a village near the Afghan border where a purportedly CIA airstrike on Friday killed at least 18 people, including women and children.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya satellite TV channel said Zawahri is alive, quoting a source close to al Qaeda.

In public, the Pentagon, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. National Security Council and other U.S. government agencies declined to provide more details on the airstrike.

The U.S. government has issued a 25 million-U.S.-dollar bounty for Zawahri, who is believed to have been hiding along the rugged Pakistan-Afghan border areas since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Pakistan condemned the airstrike and summoned U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. The U.S. State Department and White House have not made immediate comment.

On Saturday, hundreds of Pakistani protesters chanted anti-American slogans near the airstrike scene, condemning the killing of innocent women and children.

Source: Xinhua