‘Khorasan’ Al-Qaeda Splinter Terror Group, Rivals ISIS As A Threat To U.S. And The West (Warning Issued, Video)

By Josey Wales

The global jihad movement has just split in two.

A shadowy group of extremists with links to Al-Qaeda is as big a threat as the Islamic State and just as likely to launch a terror attack against Western targets, US intelligence officials have warned.

The network, known as the Khorasan Group, was acknowledged and named publicly for the first time on Thursday by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. He confirmed the group is operating in the region and said they may pose as great a threat to the U.S. as the Islamic State. “There is potentially yet another threat to the homeland, yes,” Clapper said at an intelligence conference in Washington.

According to the New York Times, the group is described by several intelligence, law enforcement and military officials as being made up of al-Qaeda operatives from across the Middle East, South Asia and north Africa.

Long time al-Qaeda operative Muhsin al-Fadhli is thought to be the leader of the Khorasan.

The man thought to lead the group, Muhsin al-Fadhli, was involved in the 11 September terror attacks and was one of Osama bin Laden’s top commanders. Beyond that, little is known about the group.

Will this lead to both terror groups competing to see who can do the most damage to the west?  How soon will they strike a western target and will it be on U.S. soil? 

Or could this be another manufactured terror threat to rally support for the growing war effort in the Middle East?

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said on “Face the Nation” Sunday that the threat of Khorasan is “more immediate” than the Islamic State, which the United States is targeting with airstrikes.

Rogers described Khorasan as “forward-deployed al Qaeda operatives who were engaging with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to develop a terror plot to bring down airplanes.”

Officials have warned that the group’s expertise in making bombs coupled with the presence of jihadist fighters with Western passports in its ranks make it a significant threat to homeland security.

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