An airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition has killed Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi citizen and the leader of an al-Qaida offshoot called the Khorasan Group, a Pentagon spokesman said Sunday.
The Pentagon said al-Nasr organized routes for new recruits to travel from Pakistan to Syria through Turkey and played a significant role in the group's finances. He was killed in an airstrike Thursday in northwest Syria, it said.
"Al-Nasr was a longtime jihadi experienced in funneling money and fighters for al-Qaida. He moved funds from donors in the Persian Gulf region into Iraq and then to al-Qaida leaders from Pakistan to Syria," the Pentagon spokesman said in a statement.
Al-Nasr worked for al-Qaida's Iran-based network before taking charge of the militant group's finances in 2012 and moving to Syria in 2013, the Pentagon said.
He was the fifth senior Khorasan Group leader killed in the last four months, it said.
"This operation deals a significant blow to the Khorasan Group's plans to attack the United States and our allies, and once again proves that those who seek to do us harm are not beyond our reach," U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said in a statement.