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US forces have carried out an air strike targeting the Islamic State group militant known as “Jihadi John”, the Pentagon has said.
Mohammed Emwazi, the Kuwaiti-born British militant, was the target of an attack near Raqqa, in Syria.
A worldwide hunt had been launched for Emwazi after he was seen in videos of the beheadings of Western hostages.
The Pentagon said it was still assessing whether Emwazi had been killed in the attack on Thursday.
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.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said: “We are assessing the results of tonight’s operation and will provide additional information as and where appropriate.”
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the US statement about the air strike targeting Mohammed Emwazi. Like them, we are not commenting further at this stage.”
Hostage videos
Emwazi is believed to have travelled to Syria in 2013 and later joined so-called Islamic State militants.
He first appeared in a video in August last year, when footage was posted online showing the murder of US journalist James Foley.
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.
In each of the videos, the militant appeared dressed in a black robe with a black balaclava covering his face.
Initially dubbed “Jihadi John”, he was subsequently named as Emwazi, from west London, in February.
Mohammed Emwazi
- 1988: Born in Kuwait, moves to UK in 1994
- 2009: Completes computing degree at University of Westminster
- Aug 2009: Travels to Tanzania with two friends for safari but refused entry at Dar es Salaam. Put on flight to Amsterdam. After questioning there, returns to Dover
- Sept 2009: Travels to Kuwait to stay with father’s family
- July 2010: Returns to UK for short stay but told he cannot return to Kuwait as visa denied
- 2012: Passes Celta English language teaching course
- 2013: Changes name by deed poll. Tries to travel to Kuwait but is stopped. Disappears. Parents report him missing. Police tell family four months later he has entered Syria
Source: Cage, London-based campaign group
Earlier this year details emerged about how Emwazi made a number of journeys abroad before he left for Syria in 2013.
They included a trip to Tanzania in August 2009, when he is believed to have first became known to security services in the UK.
His naming 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.
Mohammed Emwazi’s movements before heading to Syria
- 1. Aug 2009, refused entry to Tanzania: travels to Tanzania with two friends, but is refused entry at Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian police have denied Emwazi’s name is on their database of suspected foreign criminals detained and deported in 2009, as he had claimed. Emwazi and his friends are put on flight to Amsterdam, where they are questioned. They return to Dover and are questioned again.
- 2. Sept 2009, travels to Kuwait for work: leaves the UK for Kuwait for work.
- 3. May/June 2010, returns to UK for holiday: he returns to the UK for an eight-day visit.
- 4. July 2010, refused re-entry to Kuwait: Emwazi returns to the UK once more for a couple of days. He is stopped at Heathrow on his return to Kuwait and told he cannot travel as his visa has expired.
- 5. 2013, travels to Syria: Emwazi changes his name to Mohammed al-Ayan and attempts to travel to Kuwait but is stopped and questioned. Three days later, he heads abroad. Police later inform his family he has travelled to Syria.
Source: Cage
BBC