Thread: US air strike targets Mohammed Emwazi – Isis terrorist known as 'Jihadi John'

US air strike targets Mohammed Emwazi – Isis terrorist known as 'Jihadi John'

Pentagon says strike near Raqqa in Syria was aimed at British terrorist believed responsible for beheadings in gruesome Islamic State propaganda videos

Thursday 12 November 2015 22.48 ESTLast modified on Thursday 12 November 201523.18 EST

The US has carried out an air strike in Syria targeting Mohammed Emwazi, the Isis terrorist and British citizen referred to as “Jihadi John” believed responsible for the beheadings of several hostages in the group’s gruesome propaganda videos.


Who is Mohammed Emwazi? From 'lovely boy' to Islamic State killer

The Pentagon was still working on Thursday night to establish whether Emwazi had been killed, it said in a statement.

“US forces conducted an airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, on 12 November 2015 targeting Mohamed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John,” the Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

“Emwazi, a British citizen, participated in the videos showing the murders of US journalistsSteven Sotloff and James Foley, US aid workerAbdul-Rahman [Peter] Kassig, British aid workersDavid Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, and a number of other hostages.

“We are assessing the results of tonight’s operation and will provide additional information as and where appropriate.”


Masked man believed to be Mohammed Emwazi in a frame from an Islamic State video. Photograph: Uncredited/APAssociated Press quoted an unnamed US official saying that a drone had targeted a vehicle believed to be carrying Emwazi in Raqqa, the de facto capital of Isis in northern Syria.

Diane Foley, the mother of James Foley, told ABC News that should Emwazi have been killed in the strike, it would be “really a small solace to us”.

“This huge effort to go after the this deranged man filled with hate when they can’t make half that effort to save the hostages while these young Americans were still alive,” she said.

Emwazi was born in Kuwait in 1988 and came to the UK in 1994 when he was six years old.

His parents reported him missing in August 2013 and were reportedly told by police, four months later, that he was in Syria.

In August 2014, he made his first appearance in the Islamic State video showing the beheading of Foley. In the following months he featured in similar propaganda films showing the killings of Sotloff, Haines and Henning.

In November 2014, Emwazi was believed to have carried out the killing of a Syrian military officer. He was filmed standing over the severed head of Kassig, and two months later appears in a video killing Goto.

This is a developing news story. More details soon ...

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...as-jihadi-john

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