United States carried out fresh air raids against the shadowy Khorasan Group in northwestern Syria

The United States carried out fresh air raids against the shadowy Khorasan Group in northwestern Syria on Wednesday night, US military officials said.

"We took decisive action to protect our interests and remove their capability to act," US Central Command said in a statement on Thursday.
The airstrike was the second round of operation against the al-Qaeda affiliate since the US began its air campaign in Syria on September 22.

"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," the statement read.
Other reports said that the US fighters struck at least five targets in Idlib Province north of Aleppo in the towns of Saramada and Kfar Deriyan.
The strikes appear to have killed David Drugeon, a French national and skilled bomb-maker of the group, according to reports.
The targets, which included bomb-making and training facilities, vehicles and buildings, were owned by the Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate.
Khorasan Group members work under al-Nusra’s protection, and US officials have said in the past that the groups share resources and co-locate their operations.
In September, the US military fired 46 cruise missiles at eight locations to target the Khorasan Group, but American intelligence officials said the attacks were not successful.
According to witnesses, one missile killed a dozen of civilians in the village of Kfar Deriyan in the September strikes.
The United States also began a coalition campaign in Syria and Iraq against ISIL militants since late September.

The US and several of its Arab allies -- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates -- have been conducting airstrikes against ISIL inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.