'Jihadi john', British ISIS Militant Mohammed Emwazi, Targeted By US Drone Strike Around City Of Raqqa

An American drone strike targeted the British Islamic State member known as ‘Jihadi John’ on Thursday. According to US officials, the masked ISIS terrorist, who has beheaded several western hostages in Syria, was the target of an operation around Raqqa. Intelligence has yet to confirm whether the militant was killed in the attack, however a US official told CNN it was likely the Kuwaiti-born Briton was killed.

Earlier this year, ‘Jihadi John’ was revealed to be Briton Mohammed Emwazi, who lived in West London and attended Westminster University. Propaganda videos released by ISIS shows Emwazi beheading American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning. He is also implicated in the murder of American aid worker Peter Kassig and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook confirmed the strike took place around Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State in Syria. "We are assessing the results of tonight’s operation and will provide additional information as and where appropriate,” he said.

Emwazi, who is in his mid-20s, was given the name 'Jihadi John' by the UK press, as he was one of four British terrorists whom captives referred to as "the Beatles." The computer science graduate travelled to Syria in 2013, though he was known to British security services as far back as 2009.

Name: Mohammed Emwazi

Age: 26, born in 1988

Place of Birth: Kuwait, moved to Britain at the age of six, and obtained British citizenship

Family: The child of a minicab driver and a stay-at-home mother, with two sisters and a brother

Languages: Arabic, English

Education: Mary Magdalene Church of England Primary School, Maida Vale, Quintin Kynaston Community School in St Johns Wood, and then the University of Westminster, class of 2009, where he graduated in computer science

Spouse(s): Ex-fiancee in London, and ex-fiancee in Kuwait

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