The bomb maker was French Muslim convert David Drugeon.

(CNN) — A U.S. airstrike in Syria appears to have killed a key French jihadist who is part of the militant Khorasan Group, a U.S. defense official said Thursday.

The strike happened near Idlib, according to the official, who has access to the latest information about the strikes.

The U.S. fired at a vehicle it believes carried David Drugeon, a skilled bomb maker who also has ties to core Al Qaeda members in Pakistan.

The Khorasan Group is made up of senior al Qaeda leaders who have moved into Syria.

The U.S. targeted the Khorasan Group with a series of strikes in Syria in September. Those attacks came amid intelligence that suggested the group was plotting against a target in the U.S. homeland as well as other Western targets, a senior U.S. official told CNN at the time.