U.S. Airstrikes in Syria also Targeted al Qaeda Cell to Avert Imminent Threat

The U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State militants in Syria on Monday also targeted an al Qaeda affiliate called the Khorasan group, officials said.

United States Officials said the shadowy group was planning to conduct terrorist attacks against America and other western countries.

More than 20 Tomahawk missiles were launched against eight Khorasan targets near Aleppo in nortwestern Syria, a Pentagon official said, reports the Associated Press.

However, it remains to be ascertained whether the leader of the Khorasan group, Muhsin al Fadhli, was killed in the airstrikes. Fadhli  is a Kuwaiti citizen and  was  part of Osama bin Laden's inner circle. The U.K. based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 50 militants and eight civilians were killed in strikes in northern Aleppo and Idlib provinces on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

The Khorasan group's plot to attack U.S. and other western targets was discovered by the U.S. Intelligence department last week.  The plan of the militants was to make bombs from non metallic substances like toothpaste containers or to use clothes dipped in explosive materials, an intelligence source said, reports CNN. One of their options was to conceal bombs on airplanes, he added.

Washington does not view the Islamic State, which has taken over vast swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, as an immediate threat outside the region.

However, it is wary of the Khorasan group, with its plans to carry out bomb attacks in the United States and Europe.

"These are al Qaeda veterans who have established a safe haven in Syria to develop and plan external attacks, in addition to construct and test improvised explosive devices and to recruit Westerners for external operations," a senior U.S. official said, reports Reuters.