French Bomb-Maker Believed Killed in US Airstrike

David 'Daoud' Drugeon targeted in airstrikes on Khorasan group
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 6, 2014 10:46 AM CST
French Bomb-Maker Believed Killed in US Airstrike
In this Oct. 28, 2014, file photo, smoke and flames rise from an Islamic State fighters' position in the town of Kobani during airstrikes by the US-led coalition.   (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

The US reportedly took out a high-value target in its latest drone strikes in Syria: French bomb-maker David (Daoud) Drugeon, a 24-year-old convert to Islam and member of the Khorasan Group, "well-placed military sources" tell Fox News. The Predator drone likely fatally injured the driver of the vehicle in Idlib province; a second person, thought to be Drugeon, was killed. The Pentagon confirms it carried out airstrikes yesterday against the hard-core al-Qaeda offshoot, but said it's still doing "bomb damage assessment" and can't confirm it was Drugeon who died. A defense official tells Foreign Policy that a total of five airstrikes were carried out. Drugeon was the intended target, defense sources tell Fox News.

Drugeon, one of al-Qaeda's most notorious bomb-makers, converted to Islam after his parents divorced when he was 14. He reportedly set out to learn Arabic in Egypt in 2010, then headed to Afghanistan to help al-Qaeda against the US. One of his most famous skills, according to French intelligence agents: dipping clothes in explosives using a technique that can pass through airport security undetected. Drugeon was also rumored to be a French intelligence agent who defected, according to War on the Rocks, which cites an "explosive" McClatchy article. (More Syria stories.)

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