The leader of an al Qaeda-linked group allegedly bent on attacking the West has been killed in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in Syria, U.S. officials said Sunday, October 18, according to CNN News.

Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi citizen whose real name is Abdul Mohsen Adballah Ibrahim al Charekh, was the highest-ranking member of the Khorasan Group -- a collection of veteran al Qaeda jihadis which had moved into Syria, the Pentagon said in a statement.

He was killed in an airstrike in northwest Syria on Thursday, the statement said.

Nasr, who was once al Qaeda's chief financial officer and had been designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. Treasury, is the fifth senior Khorasan Group leader killed in the last four months, said the statement.

"The United States will not relent in its mission to degrade, disrupt and destroy al-Qaeda and its remnants," said Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.

"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."

Nasr's death was referred to widely on jihadist social media sites, where he was mourned as a martyr.