U.S. claims ‘Jihadi John’ killed in airstrikes
London lauds operation, but uncertain about death of militant in beheading videos
LONDON— The U.S. military is “reasonably certain” that an American drone strike in Syria killed the Islamic State executioner known as “Jihadi John,” an official said Friday as British and U.S. officials seek to confirm the details of the attack.
Speaking in Baghdad, Army Col. Steven Warren, a U.S. military spokesman, told reporters that Thursday’s U.S. drone attack hit its intended target and people were killed. It still remained unclear, however, whether the London-raised militant, Mohammed Emwazi, was among them, he said.
Emwazi, who was shown in videos beheading several western hostages, came to symbolize the Islamic State’s brutality and was seen as a potential recruiting tool in the English-speaking world.
Warren did not give details of why U.S. military officials can express increased confidence that Emwazi, 27, was killed, but he said the drone strike was carried out as planned.
In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron lauded the operation, but also added that there was no certainty that the British extremist was dead.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said experts were “assessing the results” of the strike around the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIL and ISIS. Cameron alternated between speaking about Emwazi in the past and the present tenses, describing him as a “barbaric murderer” who was the Islamic State’s “lead executioner.”
“This was an act of self defence. It was the right thing to do,” he said.
The BBC, citing a “senior military source,” reported Friday that there was a “high degree of certainty” that Emwazi was hit in the attack.
“We don’t have jackpot,” said a U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity. He cautioned that, in such cases where DNA evidence is difficult to obtain and the death is not easily established by other intelligence means, definitive confirmation may not be possible.
If confirmed, Emwazi’s death would cap more than a year of western efforts to hunt down a militant who became widely known in August 2014 when he appeared — masked and dressed from head to toe in black — in a video in which he beheaded American journalist James Foley.
Emwazi subsequently appeared in grisly videos showing the killing of foreign hostages — speaking to the camera in taunting tones, with a balaclava over his face, a knife in his hand and a holster under his left arm.
Emwazi is thought to have participated in the beheadings of Steven Sotloff, another American journalist; Abdul-Rahman Kassig, an American aid worker; David Haines and Alan Henning, both British aid workers; and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.
“It is a very small solace to learn that Jihadi John may have been killed by the U.S. government,” said Foley’s parents, John and Diane, in a statement. “His death does not bring Jim back. 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.”
That statement was echoed by Art and Shirley Sotloff, the parents of Steven Sotloff, who said, “This development doesn’t change anything for us; it’s too little too late. Our son is never coming back. More importantly, today, we remember Steven’s remarkable life, his contributions and those of James Foley, Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig, Kayla Mueller, David Haines, Alan Henning, Kenji Goto and everyone else who has suffered at the hands of ISIS.”
It is not clear that Emwazi had a meaningful role in the Islamic State’s leadership structure. Analysts said the impact of his possible death could be limited.
Peter Neumann, director of King’s College’s International Center for the Study of Radicalization, said Emwazi is a “low-ranking officer” in charge of the facility where the Islamic State holds hostages. But symbolically, Neumann said, his death would show that Islamic State is suffering blows, which could undercut recruitment.
“It feeds into the narrative of ISIS, in its core territory, losing,” he said.
Neumann said it was likely that Islamic State would respond to the strike targeting Emwazi by “inciting people to attack in Britain and America. But we’ve had those before and nothing happened.”
Bethany Haines, the daughter of David Haines, told British broadcaster ITV News that news of the strike against Emwazi had given her “an instant sense of relief, knowing he wouldn’t appear in any more horrific videos.”
But she also said his death, if true, will leave her with questions.
“As much as I wanted him dead, I also wanted answers as to why he did it. Why my dad? How did it make a difference?” she said.
Since it launched airstrikes over Iraq and Syria last year, the United States has killed a number of militants it has described as senior members of the Islamic State. But if Emwazi’s death is confirmed, he would be by far the best-known militant to have been slain. The group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, remains at large.