Muhsin al-Fadhli

Muhsin al-Fadhli (born 24 April 1981) is the alleged leader of Khorasan, an offshoot of the al-Nusra Front, a branch of al-Qaeda.

According to media reports, al-Fadhli was a close confidant of Osama bin Laden, and was one of the few people to be informed of the September 11 attacks before they were launched. He was born in Kuwait and uses the aliases Muhsin Fadhil ‘Ayyid al Fadhli, Muhsin Fadil Ayid Ashur al Fadhli, Abu Majid Samiyah, and Abu Samia.

In 2012, the United States State Department identified al-Fadhli as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iran. In mid-2013, al-Fadhli was sent to Syria on behalf of al-Qaeda emir Ayman al-Zawahiri, in order to mediate disputes between al-Qaeda's then Iraqi branch, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front. In February 2014, al-Fadhli was instrumental in influencing al-Qaeda to disassociate itself from ISIS.

Reports of death
Reuters reported that al-Fadhli was believed to have been killed by a U.S. airstrike during the military intervention in Syria on 22 September 2014. A jihadist posting on social media claimed that Fadhli was killed. However, the United States has not officially verified al-Fadhli's death, and in November 2014, CNN reported that U.S. officials believed that al-Fadhli probably survived the strikes. On 10 December 2014, the CIA revealed that Muhsin al-Fadhli had survived the airstrikes on Khorasan, along with David Drugeon, although Drugeon was badly wounded.