The Pentagon said on Friday
that it was “reasonably certain” that an American airstrike killed Mohammed
Emwazi, the Islamic State’s most notorious executioner.
Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman
for the American-led coalition fighting the militant group, told reporters at a
news briefing that the airstrike on Thursday took place near the Islamic State
stronghold of Raqqa, Syria. He said the Pentagon was still seeking final
verification that Mr. Emwazi, a 27-year-old British citizen who became known as
Jihadi John, was killed in the strike.
Speaking from Baghdad over a
webcast, Colonel Warren said a Reaper drone fired Hellfire missiles at a car in
which Mr. Emwazi and another militant were believed to be traveling. “We know
for a fact that the weapon system hit its intended target, and that the
personnel who were on the receiving end of that weapons system were in fact
killed,” he said, but it remained necessary to confirm that “those personnel
were specifically who we thought they were.”
Prime Minister David Cameron
of Britain defended the decision to target Mr. Emwazi, who was born in Kuwait
and is a naturalized British citizen, as “an act of self-defense” and “the
right thing to do.”
“We have been working with the
United States literally around the clock to track him down,” Mr. Cameron said
in London. “This was a combined effort, and the contribution of both our
countries was essential. Emwazi is a barbaric murderer.”
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