U.S. Department of Defense on Tuesday said that Muhsin al-Fadhli, a longtime al-Qaeda operative and the leader of the Khorasan Group, was killed in U.S. airstrike in northern Syria on July 8.

Al-Fadhli, who had previously been targeted and believed by some people in the U.S. to have been killed, was traveling in a vehicle near Sarmada, Syria, when he was hit by an air strike, said the DOD.

The July 8 strike was the second attempt to kill Al-Fadhli.

Al-Fadhli was the leader of a network of veteran al-Qaeda operatives, sometimes called the Khorasan Group, who are tasked with plotting external attacks against the United States and its allies, Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said in a statement.

He was a senior al-Qaeda facilitator who was among the few trusted al-Qaida leaders who received advance notification of the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, according to Davis.

Al-Fadhli was also involved in terrorist attacks that took place in October 2002, including those against U.S. Marines on Faylaka Island in Kuwait and on the French ship MV Limburg, the DOD spokesman added.