A US drone strike targeted a vehicle in Syria believed to be transporting the masked Islamic State militant known as “Jihadi John” on Thursday, November 12, 2015 according to American officials.
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Emwazi is said to have been killed in Raqqa – the same city in northern Syria where aid worker Kayla Mueller of Arizona was reportedly killed in an airstrike this past February.
“We can not yet be certain if the strike was successful but let me be clear: I’ve always said that we will do whatever if necessary, whatever it took to track down Emwazi and stop him taking the lives of others”, he said in a statement outside Downing Street on Friday morning.
Among those victims who appeared beheaded in videos featuring Emwazi was the US journalist James Foley, 40, who had been abducted in Syria in November 2012. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
“We had been following this target for a few time”, Warren said. Born in Kuwait, Emwazi grew up in Britain, giving him added symbolic weight.
Diane and John Foley, of Rochester, the parents of James Foley, said the USA should put more effort into finding and rescuing hostages.
Britain’s opposition leader says it would have been better if Mohammed Emwazi had stood trial for his crimes.
Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem Friday, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said, “If these reports are correct and several of those people from ISIS were killed today, I mean these people who were brutalizing, terrorizing, murdering people”.
“Whether a strike takes place directly by the United Kingdom or indirectly, where we are helping a strike by the U.S., doesn’t really make any difference to the legalities – we are still involved”. That drew more people curious about the Islamic State’s apocalyptic beliefs, inspiring a few to join the militant’s self-declared “caliphate”.
Emwazi took part in videos showing the murders of USA, British and other hostages. In September, escaped captives said they believe Mueller had been killed by ISIS.
As the masked face of ISIS, he appeared in a series of brutal execution videos, dressed head-to-toe in black and holding a knife.
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Emwazi’s identity became public earlier this year. The release of the video, on August 19, 2014, horrified and outraged the civilized world, but was followed the next month by videos showing the beheadings of Sotloff and Haines and, in October, of Henning.
