The United States yesterday said it conducted air strikes on Wednesday night against the so-called Khorasan group, an al-Qaeda-linked militant faction based in Syria, and said the group was plotting to attack Europe or the United States.

Separately, one US official said a target of the strike was David Drugeon, a French-born militant and convert to Islam who some US officials say is a bomb maker for the group. US officials have not confirmed whether Drugeon was killed.

Officials also said they believed a leader of the Khorasan group, Muhsin al-Fadhli, who had been targeted in US strikes in Syria in September, was still alive. It was unclear whether al-Fadhli was a target of the latest US raid.

In a statement yesterday, US Central Command said the latest strikes were carried out by the US military against five Khorasan targets near Sarmada in Idlib province, close to the Turkish border and west of the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Air strikes were conducted against Khorasan group, an al-Qaeda linked militant faction

“We are still assessing the outcome of the attack, but have initial indications that it resulted in the intended effects by striking terrorists destroying or severely damaging” several of the group’s vehicles and buildings as well as bomb making and training facilities, it said.

Meanwhile the US has continued its assault on Islamic State militants.

From Monday through Wednesday, US military forces launched three strikes near the Syrian border town of Kobani and one strike to the north in Sinjar.

The strikes hit a small unit of militant fighters as well as two fighting positions, Central Command said.