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US air strikes target ‘Jihadi John’
US air strike in Raqqa, Syria, target British terrorist Jihadi John, (Mohammed Emwaz)
The masked militant, dubbed Jihadi John and later identified as Mohammed Emwazi, was seen in a number of videos showing the execution of Western hostages
The Pentagon has said that US forces have carried out an air strike targeting the British Islamic State group militant known as Jihadi John.
The attack, which took place on Raqqa, Syria, had Mohammed Emwazi, the Kuwaiti-born British militant as its target, after a global hunt was launched for Emwazi after he was seen in videos of the beheadings of Western hostages.
The Guardian adds that he first appeared in a video in August last year, when footage was posted online showing the murder of US journalist James Foley, and he was later pictured in the videos of the beheadings of US journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines and UK taxi driver Alan Henning, as well as American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter, and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, among other hostages.
In each of the videos, the militant appeared dressed in a black robe with a black balaclava covering his face. He was subsequently identified as Emwazi, from west London, in February. The Guardian adds that his nickname “Jihadi John” was given to him by a group of hostages, who described him as part of an Isis cell they named “the Beatles” because of their British accents.
Emwazi is believed to have travelled to Syria in 2013 and later joined so-called Islamic State militants.
In a statement, the Pentagon added that it was still assessing whether Emwazi had been killed in the attack on Thursday, and a US official told the BBC the strike had been on a vehicle believed to be carrying Emwazi, whom the official said had been "tracked carefully over a period of time."
The Associated Press news agency reported a US official saying that a drone had been used in the attack.
The BBC adds that his identification this year led to a row over the cause of his radicalisation, with British advocacy group Cage suggesting that contact with MI5 may have contributed to it. However, Downing Street said that suggestion was "completely reprehensible", with Prime Minister David Cameron defending the UK's security services.
