The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) today released updated resources on Muhsin al-Fadhli, the leader of the Khorasan group who was reportedly killed by a U.S. drone strike in Syria, as well as his likely successor and deputy, Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al Charekh, more commonly known as Sanafi al-Nasr.

The Khorasan group is a shadowy al-Qaeda offshoot operating in Syria under the protection of another al-Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front. According to U.S. officials, the group, comprised of veterans of al-Qaeda campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was established for the purpose of carrying out attacks against U.S. targets.

Al-Fadhli was a longtime al-Qaeda operative and one of few members given advance notice of the 9/11 attacks. Al-Fadhli was once the leader of al-Qaeda’s Iran-based funneling network, a cooperative arrangement between Iran and al-Qaeda that allowed funds to be collected from donors throughout the Gulf and moved through Iran to al-Qaeda's leadership in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was implicated in an al-Qaeda attack in 2002 that killed one U.S. Marine in Kuwait and also reportedly financed an attack aimed at a French oil tanker in Yemen that killed one crew member. Al-Fadhli was targeted while traveling in a vehicle near Sarmada in Syria.

Like al-Fadhli, deputy leader Sanafi al-Nasr once served as the leader of al-Qaeda’s Iran-based funneling network. He oversees al-Qaeda’s efforts to transfer experienced operatives and leaders from Pakistan to Syria, as well as the movement of al-Qaeda operatives to the West. Al-Nasr has an extensive presence online, including on Twitter, and is considered to be a leading Internet propagandist.

Learn more about Muhsin al-Fadhli, Sanafi al-Nasr, the Khorasan group and other extremist groups and leaders at counterextremism.com.
 

For requests for interviews, please contact CEP at [email protected].