Al Qaeda leader killed in Syria raid

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Al Qaeda leader killed in Syria raid
Muhsin Al Fadhli

Washington - Fadhli, accused of plotting anti-US attacks, was a trusted aide of Osama.

By AFP

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Published: Thu 23 Jul 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Thu 23 Jul 2015, 2:13 PM

A US-led coalition air strike earlier this month killed the leader of an Al Qaeda offshoot in Syria that American officials accuse of plotting attacks against the United States and its allies, the Pentagon said.
Muhsin Al Fadhli was killed in a "kinetic strike" on July 8 while travelling in a vehicle near the northwestern Syrian town of Sarmada, said Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
He did not confirm whether a drone or a manned aircraft had killed Fadhli, 34.
Fadhli was allegedly the leader of the Khorasan Group, a group of senior Al Qaeda members who have travelled from Central Asia and elsewhere in the Middle East to Syria to plot attacks on the West.
The Kuwaiti-born militant was so trusted among late Al Qaeda supreme Osama bin Laden's inner circle that he was among the few who knew in advance about the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, according to United States intelligence.
"His death will degrade and disrupt ongoing external operations of Al Qaeda against the United States and its allies and partners," said Davis. Davis, who heads the Defence Department's Press operations, said Fadhli was also involved in October 2002 attacks against US Marines on Kuwait's Failaka Island and on the MV Limburg, a French oil tanker.
He was reported to have been previously targeted in a US air strike in September, but his death was not confirmed by US officials at the time.
Officials say Khorasan is part of Al Qaeda's Syrian branch, Al Nusra Front, though experts and activists cast doubt on the distinction between the two groups.
In a September interview, US President Barack Obama listed Khorasan among "immediate threats to the United States," warning that "those folks could kill Americans."
The US State Department had posted a $7 million reward for information leading to Fadhli's death or detention.
He was wanted by law enforcement authorities in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United States for terrorist activities.
The diminutive fighter - US intelligence says he measured just five feet five inches - fought alongside the Taleban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan, according to the State Department. - AFP


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