American officials say they believe a drone strike has taken out the ISIS terrorist known as Jihadi John – the man who was seen in several videos beheading American and Western hostages.
While there has of yet been no official confirmation the man killed when he and his vehicle were “evaporated” by a U.S. missile is the terrorist whose real name is Mohammed Emwazi, Pentagon officials claim they are '99 percent' sure it was he who was killed in the center of the terror group's stronghold of Raqqa.
What do we know about Emwazi?
Emwazi seemed to have had a normal childhood, and questions remain about just what caused the man who was said to love football and watching “The Simpsons” to become infamous as the brutal executioner for the terror organization.
Here's what we know:
- He was born in Kuwait in 1988
- His family moved to England when he was 6
- He attended schools in northern England and was described as a "a diligent, hardworking, lovely young man"
- He graduated in 2009 from the University of Westminster with a degree in computing
- The Washington Post reported that Emwazi traveled to the east African nation of Tanzania in 2009, and that is where he may have begun to consider joining a radical jihadi organization
- He tried to go to Kuwait in 2010, but was stopped from leaving the country by British counterintelligence. Emwazi reportedly sent an email expressing his anger over being denied permission to go to Kuwait. "I had a job waiting for me and marriage to get started," he wrote to a friend, according to The Post. "I feel like a prisoner, only not in a cage, in London. A person imprisoned & controlled by security service men, stopping me from living my new life in my birthplace & country, Kuwait."
- He is believed to have left for Syria between 2010 and 2012 where he joined with the Islamic State
- He began to appear in videos from the group, eventually in 2014 and 2015 being shown in ISIL videos beheading hostages with a knife.
The victims
Emwazi is believed to have personally beheaded at least eight hostages and tortured many more.
Here are the victims he is believed to have been seen in videos beheading:
- Steven Sotloff
- James Foley
- David Haines
- Alan Henning
- Kenji Goto
- Abdul-Rahman (Peter) Kassig
- Haruna Yukawa
Victims’ families
John and Diane Foley told ABC News in a statement Friday that they find no solace in reports that Emwazi has been killed. "This huge effort to go after this deranged man filled with hate -- when they can't make half that effort to save the hostages while these young Americans were still alive. It's unfortunate that the government doesn't get it. They think it gives us solace, but it doesn't."
The mother of victim Steven Sotloff said Emwazi’s death won’t help her grief.
"If they got him, great -- it doesn't bring my son back," Shirley Sotloff told NBC. "I don't think there will ever be closure."
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