WASHINGTON DC - Aerial bombardments by US-led coalition forces killed a top leader of the so-called Khorasan Group, the Pentagon said in a statement on Sunday. The Department of Defense said that Abdul Mohsen Adballah Ibrahim al Charekh, also known as Sanafi al-Nasr, was killed in air raids in northwestern Syria on Thursday. It said he was a Saudi citizen and the highest-ranking al-Qaeda operative. The Pentagon called him “a long-time jihadist experienced in funneling money and fighters for al-Qaeda.” It said, “He moved funds from donors in the Gulf region into Iraq and then to al-Qaeda leaders from Pakistan to Syria. He organized and maintained routes for new recruits to travel from Pakistan to Syria through Turkey in addition to helping al-Qaeda's external operations in the West,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in the statement. Al-Nasr was a known jihadist to Western Intelligence services He had previously worked for al-Qaeda in Iran and started leading al-Qaeda’s finances in 2012 before moving to Syria in 2013. The US has killed five top Khorasan Group leaders, including Al-Nasr, since June. US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter vowed that his country will continue to go after al-Qaeda leaders, saying the death of Al-Nasr will sunder the group’s attempt to attack the US. "The United States will not relent in its mission to degrade, disrupt and destroy al-Qaeda and its remnants. This operation deals a significant blow to the Khorasan Group's plans to attack the United States and our allies, and once again proves that those who seek to do us harm are not beyond our reach,” Carter said in a statement.
