Overview

Muhsin al-Fadhli was the reported leader of Khorasan.Mark Mazzetti, Michael S. Schmidt and Ben Hubbard, “U.S. Suspects More Direct Threats Beyond ISIS,” The New York Times, September 20, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/world/middleeast/us-sees-other-more-direct-threats-beyond-isis-.html?_r=0. He was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Syria on July 8, 2015.Associated Press, "Senior al-Qaida figure, Muhsin al-Fadhli, killed in US air strike in Syria, officials say," Guardian, July 21, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/22/senior-al-qaida-figure-muhsin-al-fadhli-killed-in-us-airstrike-in-syria-officials-say. Al-Fadhli was a longtime al-Qaeda operative. In 2001, al-Fadhli was allegedly one of the few al-Qaeda members given advance notice of the 9/11 attacks.“Rewards for Justice - Al-Qaida Reward Offers,” U.S. Department of State, May 18, 2012, http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/10/199299.htm.

In 2002, he was implicated in an al-Qaeda attack that killed one U.S. Marine in Kuwait.“Narrative Summaries of Reasons for Listing: QI.Q.184.05. Muhsin al-Fadhil Ayed Ashour al-Fadhli,” UN Security Council Committee, January 24, 2011, http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/NSQI18405E.shtml. Al-Fadhli also reportedly financed an attack aimed at a French oil tanker in Yemen,“Narrative Summaries of Reasons for Listing: QI.Q.184.05. Muhsin al-Fadhil Ayed Ashour al-Fadhli,” UN Security Council Committee, January 24, 2011, http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/NSQI18405E.shtml. which killed one crew member.“Narrative Summaries of Reasons for Listing: QI.Q.184.05. Muhsin al-Fadhil Ayed Ashour al-Fadhli,” UN Security Council Committee, January 24, 2011, http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/NSQI18405E.shtml.

Since the attacks in October 2002, al-Fadhli continued to work with al-Qaeda, inheriting the leadership position for al-Qaeda’s Iran-based network in 2011.“Information that Brings to Justice…” U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice, http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/yasin_al_suri.html. According to a U.S. official from the Treasury department, the network “served as a financial conduit, collecting funds from donors throughout the Gulf and moving those funds via Iran to al-Qaeda's leadership in Afghanistan and Iraq.”Thomas Joscelyn, “Report: Senior Al Qaeda Facilitator ‘Back on the Street’ in Iran,” The Long War Journal, January 31, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/01/_as_head_al_qaeda.php.

Al-Fadhli’s responsibilities reportedly included “overseeing al-Qaeda efforts to transfer experienced operatives and leaders from Pakistan to Syria, organizing and maintaining routes by which new recruits can travel to Syria via Turkey and assisting in the movement of al-Qaeda external operatives to the West.”Thomas Joscelyn, “Report: Senior Al Qaeda Facilitator ‘Back on the Street’ in Iran,” The Long War Journal, January 31, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/01/_as_head_al_qaeda.php. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, in addition to moving “fighters and money through Turkey to support al-Qa’ida-affiliated elements in Syria,” al-Fadhli was also “leveraging his extensive network of Kuwaiti jihadist donors to send money to Syria via Turkey.”“Treasury Further Exposes Iran-Based Al-Qa’ida Network,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, October 18, 2012, http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1741.aspx.

Al-Fadhli relocated to Syria in 2013.“Wanted Kuwaiti Terrorist Recruits, Trains Western Jihadists: al-Fadhli in Syria with Qaeda Nusra,” March 21, 2014, http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/204625/reftab/36/t/WANTED-KUWAITI-TERRORIST-RECRUITS-TRAINS-WESTERN-JIHADISTS/Default.aspx.

Also Known As

• Abu Majid Samiyeh
• Abu Samia
• Muhsin al-Fadhil ‘Ayyid al-Fadhli
• Muhsin al-Fadil Ayid Ashur al-Fadhli“Recent OFAC Actions,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, February 15, 2005, http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/pages/20050215.aspx.