‘Imminent Attack’ on U.S. Prompted Strikes on Khorasan Group [View all]

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By David Lerman and Nicole Gaouette Sep 23, 2014 10:58 AM ET

Airstrikes in Syria against the extremist Khorasan group were prompted by planning for an “imminent” terror attack on U.S. soil, the Pentagon said.

“We believe the individuals plotting and planning it were eliminated” in the eight U.S. airstrikes overnight, Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said today in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” program.

Amid attention on the threat from Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Khorasan has emerged in recent weeks as a more immediate peril in the view of the U.S. intelligence community because it’s more focused on attacking America and Europe.

The militant group is made up of a “network of seasoned al-Qaeda veterans” preparing to attack “United States and Western interests,” the Defense Department said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-23/-imminent-attack-in-u-s-prompted-airstrikes-on-khorasan.html