Pentagon says Khorasan group was nearing attack

WASHINGTON — In a separate action from the air strikes against the Islamic State group, the US bombed a cell of al-Qaeda militants in northwestern Syria after concluding they were close to attacking the US or Europe, Pentagon officials say.

Army Lt. Gen. William Mayville, the Pentagon's operations chief, told reporters that the Khorasan Group was nearing "the execution phase of an attack either in Europe or the homeland."

The Khorasan Group, which consists of al-Qaeda veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is focused on attacking the West, not the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Mayville said.

The general added that it was too early to describe the effects of the eight air strikes against Khorasan Group targets, or say who may have been killed.