Cameron: Not Certain ‘Jihadi John’ Dead

The US military is “reasonably certain” its drone strike in Syria killed the masked Islamic State militant known as “Jihadi John”, who appeared in several videos depicting the beheadings of Western hostages.

The real name of the man who acted as a mouthpiece for the self-proclaimed Islamic State is Mohammed Emwazi.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that USA coalition warplanes struck an Islamic State vehicle as it left the governor’s office in the group’s self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa, Syria, killing four IS foreign fighters, including a British commander.

An unnamed high-ranking expert told the BBC that there is a “high degree of certainty” that Emwazi was killed.

“If they got him, great – it doesn’t bring my son back”, Shirley Sotloff told NBC.

Since it launched airstrikes over Iraq and Syria past year, the United States has killed a number of militants it has described as senior members of the Islamic State.

And U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte said the killings of Foley and other American hostages “underscored the truly evil nature of the terrorists we confront”. “If only so much effort had been given to finding and rescuing Jim and the other hostages who were subsequently murdered by ISIS, they might be alive today”, they said.

He says the operation was “consistent” with other operations aimed at top Islamic State leaders. He said the strike had been a joint effort and that British intelligence agencies were working around the clock to find the British-accented militant, whom Cameron called the militant group’s “lead executioner”.

He was publicly identified months after he appeared in a video about the killing of ISIS hostage James Foley, a USA journalist.

John, who is known for brutally beheading James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig, and several other citizens from various countries, was spotted by an American drone and its hellfire missile may have been the last thing he ever laid eyes on.

Emwazi is believed to have personally beheaded at least eight hostages and tortured many more.

And with someone like Emwazi, there had to be a commitment to kill him, said King, as there are restrictions that he believes sometimes go too far when it comes to innocent people being near such a wanted suspect.

Neumann said it was likely that Islamic State would respond to the strike targeting Emwazi by “inciting people to attack in Britain and America”.

“We don’t have jackpot”, the official said.

If that British leader is Emwazi, it would be a significant step in the anti-ISIS fight for the West – not necessarily on the ground, with USA military spokesman Warren saying he wasn’t “a major tactical figure”, but symbolic, given his part in recruiting efforts and the terror group’s overall public image. Authorities were still investigating to confirm his identity “one hundred percent”, the official said.

Now in his mid-20s, Emwazi was born in Kuwait but grew up in a London family and studied computer programming before becoming radicalized.