US officials believe Raqqa drone strike killed Jihadi John

Mohammed Emwazi, who appeared in a series of gory propaganda videos showing the beheading of foreign journalists and aid workers last year, was targeted in the Isis stronghold of Raqqa last night.

There has been no official confirmation of his death but a senior military official told Fox News the US was "99 per cent sure we got him", while a Pentagon source told the BBC there was "a high degree of certainty" that Emwazi was killed.

Another official speaking to ABC News described the air strike that as a "flawless” and "clean hit” that "evaporated” Emwazi without killing civilians.

Activists from anti-Isis group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently said a drone targeted the car Emwazi was travelling in near the Islamic Court, which enforces the group’s interpretation of Sharia law, in the city centre.

A Facebook post said the first explosion hit at around 11.41pm local time (9.41pm GMT) and that around a dozen more air strikes were counted before midnight.

A senior US military source told the BBC Emwazi had been ”tracked carefully over a period of time" and that there is a "high degree of certainty” that the mission was a success.

At least one other person is believed to have in the car when it was hit.

The Pentagon has confirmed the air strike but said it would not formally announce the result until it had been fully assessed.

 

(The Independent)