NEW YORK: Dozens of Al Qaeda militants from Pakistan are seeking to establish bases in Syria to plan attacks on Europe and the United States, the New York Times reported on Wednesday citing CIA chief.

CIA Director John O. Brennan recently said before a House of Representatives panel that classified intelligence assessments showed that Al Qaeda planners travelled from Pakistan to Syria in order to lay the foundation for future strikes against the US and its European allies.

“We are concerned about the use of Syrian territory by the Al Qaeda organisation to recruit individuals and develop the capability to be able not just to carry out attacks inside of Syria, but also to use Syria as a launching pad,” he said, according to the New York Times report.

US intelligence officials say that the Al Qaeda is seeking “a launching pad” in Syria because they have access to hundreds of American and European militants who have gone there to fight against the Syrian government and also because Syria is far away from US drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Quoting intelligence assessments, the report also claimed that the senior Al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, including chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, was developing a much more organised, long-term plan as opposed to creating specific cells in Syria to identify, recruit and train these westerners.

Citing US intelligence officials, the report also said that Al Qaeda-linked militants were currently focused on attacking Syrian government forces and occasionally rival militant groups.

However, the officials fear that Al Qaeda is also playing a long game by recruiting and training American and European militants in Syria so that the recruits will carry out attacks when they return to their countries.

“Clearly, there is going to be push and pull between local operatives and Al Qaeda central on attack planning. How fast the pendulum will swing towards trying something isn’t clear right now,” an unnamed US intelligence official has been quoted by the New York Times as saying.

“Syria has become a matter of homeland security. DHS, the FBI and the intelligence community will continue to work closely to identify those foreign fighters that represent a threat to the homeland,” he added.

Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi-born extremist who is on his country’s list of most wanted terrorists, travelled to Syria from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region late last year and emerged as one of the Nusra Front’s top strategists. Jihadi forums reported that he was killed in fighting last week, but American counter-terrorism officials said those reports could not be confirmed.

“Al Qaeda veterans could have a critical impact on recruitment and training,” said Laith Alkhouri, a senior analyst at Flashpoint Global Partners, a security-consulting firm that tracks militant websites.

“They would be lionised, at least within the ranks, as experienced mujahideen.”

While these senior Al Qaeda envoys have been involved in the immediate fight against Syrian forces, American counter-terrorism officials said they also had broader, longer-term ambitions.