'Jihadi John' In Drone Attack

Published 13th Nov 2015

The British IS militant who executed the Salford aid worker Alan Henning has been targeted by US forces in an airstrike. The Pentagon is assessing whether the extremist, Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, was killed in the military action carried out in Syria.

Emwazi came to notoriety in a video in August 2014 which showed the beheading of US journalist James Foley. He also appeared in videos showing the killings of UK hostages Alan Henning and David Haines, American journalist Steven Sotloff, aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig and Japanese journalists Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa shortly before they were killed. A US official told the Associated Press a drone had been used to carry out the attack on a vehicle in Raqqa which was believed to be carrying Emwazi.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: We are aware of the US statement about the airstrike targeting Mohammed Emwazi. Like them, we are not commenting further at this stage.''

Emwazi appeared in the videos dressed in black with only his eves visible, and spoke with a British accent as he went on anti-western rants to the camera while wielding a knife.

It was not until February this year that the jihadist was unmasked as Kuwaiti-born Emwazi, who lived in the UK since the age of six.

It emerged that Emwazi had been known to British intelligence services, but managed to travel to Syria in 2013.