Prior to this week, the shadowy Khorasan group was little known amongst the general public in Western countries.
That was before the United States fired more than 40 Tomahawk missiles at the al-Qaeda affiliate's facilities in the northwest of Syria, in conjunction with airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets.
The US government says the group was plotting an imminent attack on Western targets and striking now was the only way to prevent it.
It's thought Khorasan is trying to perfect undetectable bombs that can be hidden in clothing, electrical devices, or small non-metallic objects.
The group's chief aim, according to US Lieutenant General William Mayville, is unleash one of these explosive devices on a Western target.
"We've been watching this group closely for some time," he told reporters after the airstrikes. "We believe the Khorasan group was nearing the execution phase of an attack either in Europe or the homeland. The Khorasan group is clearly not focused either on the Assad regime or the Syrian people."
Professor Amin Saikal, who is director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University, says Australia could also be a potential Khorasan target.
"Because Australia is a participant in this coalition (against jihadists), and has deployed forces in the region with the intention of participating in the air campaign against the Islamic State militants in Iraq," he says. "Australia would automatically be regarded by these radical, violent groups as a target."
Analysts believe the Khorasan group includes core al-Qaeda operatives from countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan who've made their way to Syria.
The US says it also includes elements of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the al-Nusra Front as well as recruits from across North Africa.
Khorasan's leader has been identified as Kuwait-born Muhsin al-Fadhli - known as a senior al-Qaeda facilitator and financier.
"We do not know a great deal about (al-Fadhli) apart from the fact that he's been affiliated with al-Qaeda," says Professor Saikal. "The Americans have identified him or known about him for some time and they have put a seven-million-dollar price on his head."
Professor Greg Barton, who is national director of the Global Terrorism Research Centre at Monash University, says al-Fadhli's past is as shadowy as the group he supposedly heads.
Professor Barton says the 33-year-old spent considerable time living in Iran under uncertain circumstances. Khorasan is the name of a district in Iran and is a Persian word, translated roughly as Land of the Rising Sun. It's been used historically to suggest Islamic empire.
Professor Barton says while the Khorasan name is new to the West, those behind the group are not.
"This is al-Qaeda. It's obviously a bit of corporate rebranding. In many ways, al-Qaeda does operate as a corporation, to some extent as a franchise corporation. But it is acutely aware of its need to win support globally and try and get local causes to come on board with their global vision," he says.
"I think, frankly, they feel they've been outplayed by Islamic State and they're desperate to try and get back and get some of the limelight."
Airstrike campaign begins: The US and Arab allies bombed Syria for the first time on Tuesday, killing dozens of Islamic State fighters. (Image: Tribune News Service)
Analysts describe Khorasan as an extremist Sunni Salafist group not dissimilar to Islamic State in their world view.
Though until recently, IS seemed focused on establishing an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East, whilst the US says Khorasan's attention is fixed on attacking the West.
However Professor Barton says IS could be moving closer to Khorasan in this regard. IS has recently encouraged home-grown extremists to pick up arms and strike Western countries.
Greg Barton says Khorasan is still ahead of IS in its capacity to carry out foreign attacks.
"Khorasan group - being the al-Qaeda 'A' team - has the advantage in having likely superior technology, which is something we don't think IS has and they have a much longer presence of doing these foreign attacks.
"But they're actually not so very different. The difference of course is that al-Qaeda hasn't succeeded in controlling territory, even in Afghanistan. It was always a guest, often unwelcome, of the Taliban. Islamic State has embarrassed it by forming a state and declaring itself a caliphate."
Despite this, Professor Barton says Khorasan's goal in the northwest of Syria is not to control more territory. He says the group set up in the country because it's currently the hotbed of jihadism in the Middle East - and because it sought protection.
"It's in a space where Jabaat al-Nusra, which is an al-Qaeda affiliate, has been strong, so presumably they're depending on al-Nusra to get some cover," he says. "It would seem they were figuring they could get some cover, work with al-Nusra, make al-Nusra stronger, have a safe haven where al-Nusra controlled ground and probably focus on attacks outside the region."
He says there's a strong chance the US airstrikes this week will succeed in disrupting Khorasan's operations in the Aleppo region.
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