Leader of Khorasan Group in Syria killed in U.S. airstrike

Leader of Khorasan Group in Syria killed in U.S. airstrike

Published 22 July 2015

The leader of the Khorasan Group, an al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group in Syria, was killed on 8 July in a U.S. airstrike in Syria, the Pentagon said. Kuwait-born Muhsin al-Fadhli, who had a $7 million bounty on his head from the U.S. government, was killed when a vehicle in which he was traveling near the Syrian town of Sarmada was hit by a missile. Islamic State has captured the headlines, but security experts say that Khorasan may pose a more immediate danger to the United States and Western European countries.

The leader of the Khorasan Group, an al-Qaeda-affiliated militant group in Syria, was killed on 8 July in a U.S. airstrike in Syria, the Pentagon said.
Kuwait-born Muhsin al-Fadhli, who had a $7 million bounty on his head from the U.S. government, was killed when a vehicle un which he was traveling near the Syrian town of Sarmada was hit by a missile.
Islamic State has captured the headlines, but security experts say that Khorasan, whose members are senior Qaeda operatives, has established itself in Syria in the past year, and may pose a more immediate danger to the United States and Western European countries. Al-Qaeda considers attacks on Western powers as a necessary step before the establishment of an Islamic caliphate because such a caliphate would have a better chance of success if Western countries and the Arab regimes they support were driven out of the Middle East first (see “Al-Qaeda-affiliated Khorasan group more dangerous than ISIS: Analysts,” HSNW, 23 September 2014; and “U.S. strike kills Khorasan Group’s chief bomb-maker,” HSNW, 7 November 2014).
In its statement, the Pentagon said that “a kinetic strike” had killed the group’s leader, Muhsin al-Fadhli. “His death will degrade and disrupt ongoing external operations of al-Qaeda against the United States and our allies and partners,” Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said in a written statement.
The State Department said al-Fadhli was among Osama bin Laden’s closest advisers and was among the few al-Qaeda leaders who knew in advance about the 9/11 attacks.
The New York Times notes that little is known about the Khorasan Group, but that intelligence, law enforcement, and military officials have described it as being made up of members of al-Qaeda from the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa. The group appears to be especially interested in planning terrorist attacks which use concealed explosives.
CNN notes that one of the group’s bases was hit in a strike last September on the first night of U.S.-led strikes inside Syria. Coalition aircraft have subsequently attacked more of Khorasan’s training camps and arms depots inside Syria.