William Mayville: Khorasan group planned strikes on the US homeland

William Mayville, Pentagon Director of Operations, gave an update on US airstrikes in Syria on Tuesday, saying more than 160 munitions had been used against targets in Syria.

Referring to attacks on the Al-Qaeda affiliated Khorasan group, he claimed the group was "in the final stage of plans to target Western targets and possible strikes against the American homeland."

He emphasised the group was not "focused on the Assad regime or the Syrian people" but what primarily using Syria as a base for launching attacks on the West.

US airstrikes had targetted Islamic State "headquarters training camps, barrack and combat vehicles" in three waves with the US regional Arab partners primarily taking part in the third wave.

One of the most immediate tasks was "to continue to the degradation if ISIL in Syria and Iraq" but said there would be no boots on the ground.

"We will not put ground forces into syria."

He also described Syrian government air radars as "passive."