Emwazi was born in Kuwait and spent part of his childhood in the poor Taima area of Jahra before moving to Britain while still a boy, according to news reports quoting Syrian activists who knew the family. He traveled to the Middle East sometime in 2013 to join Islamists fighting with the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.
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An unnamed high-ranking expert told the BBC that there is a “high degree of certainty” that Emwazi was killed. Citing a source in ISIS’ de facto capital, the same group said that ISIS militants then ringed that vehicle and two others that had been struck to prevent anyone from getting closer. “We have very few people actually able to operate on the ground there, so this was a significant victory for the Defense Department, for the USA military, and I give them enormous credit”.
Speaking to Japanese state broadcaster NHK, Junichi Goto speculated on whether his brother, slain hostage Kenji Goto, might be alive today if the airstrike had happened earlier, though realizing that ISIS’ deeds can’t be reduced to just one man. He has been one of the West’s top targets after Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his other lieutenants.
Dragana Haines told The Associated Press in a brief phone interview Friday from her home in Croatia that it would have been much better for the families of the victims if Mohammed Emwazi, believed to be the masked man who beheaded several Western hostages, had faced a trial.
His first filmed killing was that of American journalist James Foley in a video released in August 2014.
“We have been working hand in glove with the Americans to defeat ISIL (another name for IS) and to hunt down those murdering hostages”, a spokesman said.
“Jihadi John”, whom Western officials have identified as Mohammed Emwazi, has appeared in a series of brutal execution videos, taunting Western leaders in a British accent. The Observatory said the bodies were charred, and Observatory chief Rami Abdurrahman said the commander killed in the attack was most likely Jihadi John but that he does not have 100 percent confirmation.
After Foley’s killing, Emwazi appeared in other videos of beheadings, including the mass killing of captive Syrian soldiers.
Beyond the circle of those directly affected by Emwazi’s killings, there was unanimous condemnation of Emwazi but also concerns over the manner of his reported death.
Analysts describe him as grotesque and fond of sadistic torture techniques, with one former hostage recounting last month how his captor made him dance the tango with him.
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Mr Grieve, a Tory MP, said his cross-party watchdog would be meeting soon and “may well” extend its inquiry into a previous United Kingdom drone strike in Syria to cover this operation. He was born in Kuwait, grew up in London and reportedly studied computer programming in college, as we reported in February.
