US Attacks Khorasan in North Syria, Killing 30 Fighters, Eight Civilians

Children Among the Slain in Aleppo Strikes

Launching their massive new air war against ISIS in Syria overnight, the Obama Administration also launched attacks on the Khorasan group, an al-Qaeda linked faction in Syria’s Aleppo Province.

The US strikes of Khorasan killed 30 al-Qaeda fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The strikes also killed at least eight civilians, including three children.

The Pentagon reported eight separate attacks on Khorasan overnight, claiming it was planning “imminent” attacks on US interests. The latest reports suggest they were dipping clothing in explosives, though exactly what they planned to do with that was unclear.

Khorasan is believed to have been made up of only about 50 “hardened fighters,” which suggests that the US strikes wiped out more than half the force, though such estimates often end up varying wildly, and was said to be trying to recruit Westerners who have gone to Syria for jihad.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.