The Pentagon has confirmed a U.S.-led coalition airstrike killed a top al-Qaida-linked militant in northwest Syria last week.
Saudi national Sanafi al-Nasr was killed Thursday, according to the Pentagon Sunday. He was described as a member of the so-called Khorasan group and a "longtime jihadist" who handled finances between donors and various al-Qaida operations.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter called the 30-year-old's death "a significant blow to the Khorasan Group's plans to attack the United States and our allies."
Al-Nasr was named a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" by the U.S. Department of Treasury in 2014 for his alleged roles in Syria with Al Nusrah Front and al-Qaida.
The agency said that as a "top strategist," al-Nasr "used social media posts to demonstrate his aspiration to target Americans and U.S. interests."
Relocated in 2013
After spending time working in Iran and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, al-Nasr relocated to Syria in 2013.
Militants last week made public that al-Nasr, also known as Abdul Muhsen Abdullah al-Sharekh, was killed in Aleppo along with two other al-Qaida-linked men, SITE Intelligence Group reported.
Abdul Malik al Jazrawi of Saudi Arabia and Abu Yasir al Maghrebi of Morocco were named by militants on social media as the other deceased men. The Pentagon has not confirmed their deaths.
During 13 months of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, the U.S. has also occasionally publicized the deaths of other Khorasan group members.
The Pentagon indicated Sunday that al-Nasr was the fifth senior group member to be killed in the last four months.
