US drone strike targets Islamic State executioner 'Jihadi John'
- 9 years ago
A US drone strike targeted a vehicle in Syria believed to be transporting the masked Islamic State jihadist known as "Jihadi John" on Thursday, according to American officials.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the strike Thursday in Syria's Raqqa targeted Mohamed Emwazi.
Cook said whether or not Emwazi died in the strike wasn't immediately clear.
Emwazi is in the videos showing the killings of journalists Steven Sotloff - who held Israeli citizenship - and James Foley, US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, and a number of other hostages.
Emwazi was identified as "Jihadi John" last February, although a lawyer who once represented Emwazi's father told reporters that there was no evidence supporting the accusation.
Experts and others later confirmed the identification.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the strike Thursday in Syria's Raqqa targeted Mohamed Emwazi.
Cook said whether or not Emwazi died in the strike wasn't immediately clear.
Emwazi is in the videos showing the killings of journalists Steven Sotloff - who held Israeli citizenship - and James Foley, US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, and a number of other hostages.
Emwazi was identified as "Jihadi John" last February, although a lawyer who once represented Emwazi's father told reporters that there was no evidence supporting the accusation.
Experts and others later confirmed the identification.