The raids were conducted to disrupt the group's ability to trace Western aviation attacks. We must understand, however, how effective they really have been, once again proving and if ever needed, how difficult it is to develop a clear picture of what is really happening in Syria.
For some US government agencies, air strikes have forced militants to hide and minimize the use of cell phones and emails.
The CIA and other intelligence agencies, on the other hand, note that the group remains able to attack the West.
The Khorasan group, publicly known since last September, is composed of veterans from the Nusra Front, a Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaida fighting against the government of President Bashar Assad. But the Khorasan group has dedicated itself exclusively to the West, planning attacks and exploiting the know-how acquired in the construction of non-metallic bombs to be placed on airliners, with the recruitment of terrorists with western passports.
The Khorasan group, unlike ISIS, has some fundamental characteristics. It consists of a few individuals, but they are all high-profile figures.
It would be correct to say that every element of the Khorasan group is highly trained and prepared: they are chosen terrorists.
For months, US warships in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea have continued to pound with Tomahawk missiles targeting Khorasans. The attacks were authorized because, according to US intelligence, the group "is close to making an attack in Europe or in the States".
According to FBI director James Comey, despite the raids "the group's abilities have remained intact and the threat remains very high".
The US military has confirmed at least seven air strikes against the terrorist group. In the March XNUMX raid, American bombers hit "a large tactical unit, destroyed four buildings and three tents. It is unclear whether the leaders of the group were killed in the attacks. Despite the elimination of some important figures of the group. Khorasan, the organization will maintain its intention to continue plotting against Western interests unless it is completely destroyed. "
So long as many of the key Khorasan figures remain alive, therefore, the threat will remain intact because the militia have been sent to Syria with the specific and sole objective of attacking the United States and Europe.
Meanwhile, US officials believe that an important member of the group, David Drugeon, survived an air raid (organized to eliminate him) last November. Drugeon, of French origin, is an expert in explosives with a past, never confirmed, in French DRM (military intelligence). The figure of Drugeon is to be considered the same as that of the terrorist Ibrahim Al-Asiri, an explosive expert of the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Drugeon, who converted to Islam at 24 years, fought three years in Afghanistan and Pakistan before arriving in Syria at the end of the 2012 or the beginning of the 2013.
Some experts believe that the group is led by Muhsin al-Fadhli, a Kuwaiti "target" from the United States. Despite some missile raids launched to eliminate it, the American secret services have never been certain of its elimination.
Franco Iacch
(photo: US DoD, web)
