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| US 'reasonably certain' it has killed 'Jihadi John' – as it happened | |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| 7.22pm GMT19:22 | |
| Summary | |
| 6.57pm GMT18:57 | |
| What would killing Emwazi mean for Isis and the coalition war in Syria? The Guardian’s Middle East editor Ian Black examines the question of what might come next. | |
| If confirmed, the targeted killing of Mohammed Emwazi will be a tactical and psychological achievement for the anti-Isis coalition, though it will have a greater impact in London and Washington than in the Arab world. “It shows we have killed one of their champions,” said one Whitehall official. But it is hard to see much practical effect on the group’s operations. | |
| The capture of the strategic Iraqi town of Sinjar will likely turn out to be far more significant than the demise of one sinister executioner with a high media profile. Holding Sinjar could help open the way to Mosul, whose sudden fall precipitated the Isis declaration of a caliphate in Raqqa in north-eastern Syria. Fallujah and Ramadi beckon too, though some way down the line of what looks like a long haul. | |
| “Isis can still strike painful blows,” he continues. “Thursday’s bombing of the southern Beirut suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh, killing 43 people, was not only an attack on Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia that is fighting alongside Assad. | |
| It was also hateful sectarianism borne of the unresolved conflict in Syria and promoted by the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which respectively support and oppose Assad. On Friday the group announced that one of its members had blown himself up and killed 18 others at the funeral of a pro-government Shia fighter in Baghdad. | |
| “Underlying all this is the fact that Isis is a symptom of political failings in Iraqand Syria,” said a European diplomat. “They have played on grievances so there has to be an effort to tackle the root causes or they won’t be defeated. And it is important to recognise that this is a long campaign. There is no quick way to do this. There is a real need for strategic patience.” | |
| “The US needs to show that it has strategy that is working,” said Julien Barnes-Dacey of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Given that they will not be able to squeeze a lot out of Vienna they badly need perceived impact elsewhere.” | |
| Related: Will killing Mohammed Emwazi have any effect on Isis? | |
| 6.48pm GMT18:48 | |
| Earnest is cagey about “the final determination” of the operation, saying he wants to wait until the Pentagon makes a final report. | |
| He reiterates that Emwazi held a recruitment role with Isis, and sought to move people to join the jihadi group. Still he says, “I don’t want to speculate” on what the consequences of the strike might be. | |
| “These kinds of operations are not motivated by a desire to seek revenge or retribution, but rather to advance the national security interests of the United States.” | |
| 6.41pm GMT18:41 | |
| Earnest fields a question about president Obama’s remark that Isis has been “contained”; the reporter notes that there jihadi groups might be behind a downed Russian passenger jet in Egypt and a bombing in Lebanon. | |
| “I think the president was referring very specifically to the situation on the ground in Iraq and Syria,” Earnest says. | |
| The reporter asks about “who ordered the shot” on Emwazi if not the president, and Earnest refers him to the “well established process” that goes on at the Defense Department for targeting Isis leaders. | |
| 6.31pm GMT18:31 | |
| A reporter asks about the Foley statement, which suggested the US did not do enough to secure the release of hostages from Isis. | |
| “Significant efforts and resources on the part of the United States government” were devoted to freeing hostages, Earnest says. He notes that the president “personally authorized a raid of US special operators inside of Syria” to try to free hostages – and that that raid ultimately failed. | |
| Nonetheless, he says, the US is committed to freeing Americans even as the White House remains unmoved on the proposition of ransoms. | |
| The US government paying ransoms in order to secure the release of US citizens only allows extremist organizations to gain access to finances … and makes American citizens traveling around the world even more a target. | |
| Updated at 6.34pm GMT | |
| 6.16pm GMT18:16 | |
| Earnest won’t say what Obama might feel one way or another about the strike on Emwazi. | |
| “I think the president takes some satisfaction in knowing that the kind of strategy the Department of Defense laid out … is showing some signs of progress.” | |
| He goes on to praise the offensive that retook Sinjar yesterday, especially coordination between Iraqi security forces and Kurdish peshmerga – coordination that the peshmerga downplayed from the front lines earlier Friday. | |
| “We certainly have spent time talking about the periods of setback, as we should,” Earnest said, an allusion to a boondoggle training and recruitment project and to the slow progress of an air campaign that has lasted more than a year. | |
| He grows somber when asked about the statement from the family of one of Isis’ victims, James Foley. Foley’s mother said she found no justice in the air strike earlier Friday. | |
| Earnest says that the strike was carried out because of Emwazi’s “leading role” in Isis propaganda and hostages’ deaths, but adds: “I can understand why they take little solace in it. I think that’s a perfectly understandable [sentiment] for them to express.” | |
| Updated at 6.19pm GMT | |
| 6.10pm GMT18:10 | |
| A reporter asks Earnest whether the strike on Emwazi was anything like the raid on Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound, during which Barack Obama and his advisors personally oversaw the operation from the White House. | |
| “It was not, it was different than that,” Earnest says. The strike was more like other air strikes over the past few months, he continues. | |
| But “it was quite clear to the president’s national security team [that someone] designing an online recruitment strategy [for Isis] are individuals who merit inclusion on a list of people to go after.” | |
| Earnests says he doesn’t know how Obama reacted to the news of the strike, but that the president has been briefed before and after it occurred. | |
| 6.05pm GMT18:05 | |
| Asked about whether any American special forces were involved in the air strike, Earnest refers are reporter to the Defense Department. | |
| He adds that the strike was “consistent” with other strikes over the past few months. The Pentagon said earlier today that the strike was conducted by a drone with a Hellfire missile, and that the aircraft recorded video of the strike on a car in Raqqa. | |
| 6.04pm GMT18:04 | |
| Families of victims were contacted about the air strike ahead of public reports, Earnest says. | |
| He says the White House has made an effort to “streamline” and generally improve the communication between authorities and families of hostages. | |
| 6.01pm GMT18:01 | |
| Earnest says that the air strike is a sign that the US is able to “capitalize on available intelligence” and to “apply pressure” on Isis leadership. | |
| “The fact that we’re even able to conduct this air strike [shows] that we’re serious about applying pressure to Isil leadership and using intelligence to do that. | |
| Emwazi’s role in Isis propaganda “made him a target worth going after,” Earnest adds. | |
| Updated at 6.01pm GMT | |
| 5.59pm GMT17:59 | |
| White House: Emwazi was 'threat around the world' | |
| White House press secretary Josh Earnest has said he cannot confirm that Emwazi is dead until the Pentagon does. He does assert however that Emwazi was very important to Isis leadership. | |
| “At this point what I can confirm for you is that US forces conducted an air strike in Raqqa, Syria, yesterday our time,” he says. | |
| Mr Emwazi was a British citizen who is best known in this country for his participation in the death of some western hostages including some American citizens. Mr Emwazi was an Isil leader, he was a strategist for that organization, and he was intimately invovled in the effort by Isil to recruit individuals to their cause. So his ability to use social media to inspire and radicalize people around the globe meant that he was making a valuable contribution to Isil. | |
| But “at this point I am not in a position to confirm the results of that operation,” he says. | |
| The Pentagon has “a very rigorous process for assessing these outcomes,” he adds, and “the final determination has not been made at this moment.” | |
| Earnest adds that Emwazi was “ a threat not just to the region but to countries around the world.” | |
| 5.53pm GMT17:53 | |
| “Victory is ours. Sinjar is ours,” a Kurdish Peshmerga fighter has told my colleague Martin Chulov in the Iraqi city recently retaken from Isis forces, and where “the depravity of its conquerers was laid bare,” he reports. | |
| The fall of Sinjar also exposed the shortcomings of the Kurdish forces, who had been tasked with protecting the city but retreated as danger neared. And it scattered across the Nineveh plains minorities who had coexisted since the dawn of civilisation but could not survive Isis. | |
| Sinjar’s recapture appears to herald a new phase in the war. On the bombed streets of the city, a few locals had returned to inspect what was left of their homes. “It doesn’t matter that the house has been bombed,” said one man in front of his partly ruined home. “It matters that I can take my family out of the refugee camp. This is ours again.” | |
| On the mountain above the city, the Iraqi Kurdish president Massoud Barzani declared victory, he continues. | |
| “Sinjar was liberated by the blood of the Peshmerga and became part of Kurdistan,” Barzani said. “It’s time for the Yazidi girls to hold their heads up. Revenge has been taken for them.” | |
| “These were like cattle yards,” said Corporal Falaa, a Yazidi member of the Iraqi police, of the buildings where women and girls were held as slaves by Isis. “What they did to girls here was beyond shame. It was against humanity. They separated them into groups of those who were married and those who were single. They had no mercy.” | |
| “Peshmerga fighters who flashed victory signs all afternoon were quick to point out that they, and not the Iraqi army, had pushed Isis back,” the reports goes on. | |
| “This shows what we can do,” said a senior Kurdish official. “We acknowledge the failings of last summer [2014], but they were command and control issues and they have been sorted out. The Americans know that we are reliable and that the Iraqi army still isn’t. But if they want us to take Mosul, it will be on our terms. We are not agents. And we are not naive.” | |
| Related: 'Tyranny has gone': Kurds and Yazidis celebrate recapture of Sinjar from Isis | |
| 5.46pm GMT17:46 | |
| Aine Davis, the British associate of Emwzi reportedly detained by Turkish authorities, went from life as “a petty criminal to a drug dealer who converted to Islam, becoming further radicalised during a spell in jail,” the Telegraph reported last year. | |
| Davis worked only sporadically. The Old Bailey trial heard that he had taken a job with London Underground in 2006 and 2007 although Transport for London said it had no record of Aine Davis ever working for the company. | |
| His private life was just as chaotic. He had two children with one woman before marrying El-Wahabi. She grew up in London, the daughter of Moroccan-born parents. She lived at home until she was 19, when she met Davis, three years her senior, at the Aklam Road mosque in west London in 2006. | |
| He had by then converted to Islam and was calling himself Hamza. It is not clear if Davis ever had direct dealings with his now namesake Abu Hamza, the notorious “hook-handed” cleric, who also lived in west London but is now jailed in America for terrorism offences. | |
| You can read more of the Telegraph’s profile of Davis here. | |
| 5.30pm GMT17:30 | |
| A suspected British associate of Emwazi has been detained in Turkey, Reuters reports, citing two senior Turkish officials. | |
| A man thought to be Aine Lesley Davis, one of a group of British Islamists believed to have been assigned to guard foreign prisoners in Syria, was detained in Istanbul, the officials said. | |
| They declined to give further details, saying investigations by the police and intelligence agencies were continuing. | |
| Last year Davis’ wife in London was sentenced to two years in prison for a plan to send him €20,000 ($21,430) in cash through Turkey. | |
| 5.05pm GMT17:05 | |
| Pentagon briefing summary | |
| Updated at 5.18pm GMT | |
| 4.56pm GMT16:56 | |
| Warren closes out the briefing, and the AFP’s WG Dunlop tweets a Defense Department map charting how Kurdish forces retook the town of Sinjar. | |
| Map of operation to retake Iraq town of Sinjar from IS released by @OIRspox pic.twitter.com/VSdNTuRRHf | |
| 4.53pm GMT16:53 | |
| Someone asks about the PKK involvement in the assault on Sinjar. | |
| “This operation was a Pesh-led operation,” he says, with some small forces, including Yazidi soldiers, participating. But Warren has nothing to say about the PKK, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by the US. | |
| Someone else asks about his characterization of someone with Emwazi as a “best friend”. | |
| “Worst best friend” is a “colloquialism we like to use here,” Warren says, adding that the man may have been a driver or assistant. “We like to refer to it as a worst best friend.” | |
| Updated at 4.55pm GMT | |
| 4.50pm GMT16:50 | |
| A reporter asks about how the US helps Kurdish forces choose targets. | |
| Warren says that the Kurds never spoke directly to American pilots, but rather both sides coordinate from a base in Erbil. | |
| “The Kurds on top of the mountain will pick up their hand mic, and they’ll call back to the Kurds at the operational center, and say, ‘we see what we think is a legitimate target.’” | |
| The basebound will coordinate “face-to-face” with the Americans there, “and then we’ll vector in aircraft onto the target and destroy it,” Warren says. He adds that the American team also coordinates with the Iraqis and Kurds to avoid friendly fire. | |
| 4.46pm GMT16:46 | |
| There were no other high-value individuals in the car with the man believed to be Emwazi, Warren repeats. | |
| “He had a worst best friend who was with him, who is also now dead,” he says. | |
| He’s asked about Kurdish casualties, and says: “Pesh casualties compared to Isil casualties are miniscule. It’s several kilometers on either side of Sinjar that they now control.” | |
| Updated at 4.54pm GMT | |
| 4.44pm GMT16:44 | |
| A reporter asks whether there were other high-value targets in the strike on Emwazi. | |
| Warren says no, “he was the only high value individual that we were trying to kill in that particular operation.” | |
| He’s asked about the “military adviser” role of US troops in Syria and Iraq. “How are we going to do logistics, how are we going to do triage and intelligence collection.” | |
| He adds that they also help Kurdish peshmerga manage casualties but weren’t necessarily part of the actual medevac operations. | |
| 4.41pm GMT16:41 | |
| Question: “Is there reason to believe there were civilian casualties in the strike on Emwazi?” | |
| Warren: “No, there’s not.” | |
| Question: What’s the plan going forward from the Kurdish victory at Sinjar? | |
| Warren: “Now that they’ve seized Sinjar, or freed Sinjar, now they have to clear it.” That will take weeks, he says, depending on how much Isis mined the town. | |
| He says he’s not going to detail anything about the next steps in the offensive, because he would prefer “to keep [Isis] guessing”. | |
| 4.39pm GMT16:39 | |
| “There will be a time after the war. The war will end,” Warren says in his answer to a question about how the US is targeting oil operations. | |
| He says the aim is to “strike certain parts of these facilities that will shut them down for an extended period of time.” | |
| 4.36pm GMT16:36 | |
| Warren pulls up a map of the Sinjar offensive, saying the US helped advise Kurdish commanders on how to retake the city. | |
| “There were a handful of personnel on top of the mountain helping the peshmerga forces identify and develop targets on the ground,” he says. | |
| Asked about whether US forces helped evacuate Kurdish troops who needed medical help, Warren says it was “actually Iraqi security force helicopters and pilots” who helped the Kurds. The Pentagon is “excited” to see the Kurds and Iraqi security forces cooperate, he adds. | |
| 4.33pm GMT16:33 | |
| Asked about the possibility of a so-called “safe zone” along the Turkish-Syrian border, Warren says the Pentagon does not believe it’s a good idea yet. | |
| The Pentagon map, tweeted by Radio Sawa Washington correspondent Zaid Benjamin. | |
| مناطق العمليات العسكرية في #العراق و #سوريا مؤشرة بعلامة النجمة وفق ما نشرته وزارة الدفاع الاميركية قبل قليل pic.twitter.com/ixx2g96RL1 | |
| 4.31pm GMT16:31 | |
| Warren says there is video of the strike, but doesn’t answer a question about whether that video might be released or how it might increase confidence that Emwazi was killed. | |
| Asked about possible cooperation with the UK, Warren says the British are “great allies” but “it’s important for me to let our British partners speak for themselves.” | |
| 4.29pm GMT16:29 | |
| Warren is asked how the Pentagon can be sure that Emwazi was killed by the drone strike. Warren says intelligence sources “gave us great confidence that this individual was Jihadi John”. | |
| “We have been following this target for some time,” he says. “And when the opportunity presented itself for minimal civilian casualties, we took the shot.” | |
| The drone strike was a “relatively routine operation”, he adds. | |
| Updated at 4.30pm GMT | |
| 4.27pm GMT16:27 | |
| A reporter asks Warren about US operations compared to Russian air strikes, and whether they overlap at all along Syria’s east and west. | |
| Warren evades the question about Russian military intervention, saying “We’re focusing on the entire breadth of this. Our focus is Isil.” | |
| Everywhere where there’s Isil there is some form of coalition offensive activity. And it’s ground and air activity integrated. | |
| He says there are two exceptions, including an oil field targeted by the recent air campaign. | |
| Warren says that the strategy is to keep Isil forces harried and moving, “in a position where he can’t make good decisions. Every decision he has to make will result in his eventual destruction.” | |
| Updated at 4.29pm GMT | |
| 4.24pm GMT16:24 | |
| Warren says that the strike was important because Emwazi was “something of a Isil celebrity, if you will,” and his death would mean “significant blow to their prestige”. | |
| “But Jihadi John wasn’t a major tactical figure or an operational figure.” | |
| “He was a recruitment tool for that organization,” Warren says. “I mean this guy was a human animal, and I mean killing him is probably making the world a better place.” | |
| Updated at 4.25pm GMT | |
| 4.22pm GMT16:22 | |
| Pentagon: 'reasonably certain' Emwazi killed | |
| The first question to Warren is about the Emwazi strike. | |
| “It’s still a little early but we are reasonably certain we killed the target that we intended to kill, which is Jihadi John. It’ll take some time of course to formally delcare that we have success,” he says. | |
| “We’ve got several methods that we use to try and determine whether or not the strike successfully killed the target that we wanted killed. | |
| “We know for a fact that the weapons system hit the intended target and that the personnel on the receiving end were killed by that. | |
| “It was a drone strike using a Hellfire missile.” | |
| Updated at 4.25pm GMT | |
| 4.20pm GMT16:20 | |
| Warren clarifies a point about the videos: “as you look at those videos you’ll see on each screen several inverted triangles, each of those inverted triangles actually represents an individual target. So one video represents one strike, but what you’ll see is there are several targets in that strike.” | |
| 4.18pm GMT16:18 | |
| Warren estimates that the US has destroyed 13 Isis vehicles and 93 fighting positions, and killed 287 enemy fighters in recent weeks of air strikes. | |
| “Beginning on October 21 we conducted a massive strike on the Omar oil fields,” Warren says, adding that the Pentagon is “very proud” of the operation to strip Isis of its oil finances. He cues up several videos of air strikes on oil fields – the gray, silent feed shows derricks and building, under crosshairs, which suddenly erupt in balloons of flame and black smoke. | |
| 4.13pm GMT16:13 | |
| At Mosul, Warren says the US is conducting “disruption operations” and targeting Isis’ oil drills. The attacks are “inflicting significant damage on Isis’ ability to fund itself,” he says. | |
| The US is conducting “disruption operations” in Raqqa, he adds, including the strike that targeted Emwazi. There were seven air strikes in the last 30 days east of the city. | |
| In and around Sinjar there have been 250 air strikes in the last month, he continues, adding that there were 83 near Mosul. | |
| 4.11pm GMT16:11 | |
| At Ramadi US and Iraqi forces are besieging Isis forces, Warren says. In Fallujah he says “we’re beginning the isolation process”, as in Haditha. | |
| “It’s notable that a lot of these operations are mutually supporting,” he continues, explaining that operations in Sinjar and near Al Hasakah are coordinating. | |
| 4.09pm GMT16:09 | |
| Warren begins with prepared remarks. | |
| “As events unfold across Syria and Iraq such as the ongoing operations in Ramada … and yesterday’s attack in Sinjar, it’s easy to focus on the events as separate and unconnected.” | |
| Warren say they’re not separate and distinct but connected. He pulls up a map of Syria and Iraq that shows the swath of territory controlled by Isis and five stars indicating ongoing battles, including at Sinjar. | |
| 4.06pm GMT16:06 | |
| The Pentagon is beginning its press briefing with Colonel Steve Warren speaking from Baghdad. You can watch the briefing live here. | |
| Updated at 4.15pm GMT | |
| 3.56pm GMT15:56 | |
| Emwazi’s killing if confirmed would not represent a tactical blow to Isis, a Brookings Doha Center fellow tells my colleague Ian Black, but it would land a psychological blow. | |
| More from Charles Lister, visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center and author of a forthcoming book on jihadi groups in Syria: | |
| Killing Emwazi is highly symbolic for sure, but it’s not going to directly change battlefield dynamics by itself. However, if reports surrounding the circumstances of his death are accurate, it would seem to indicate at least one human intelligence asset capable of penetrating some of ISIS’ most senior ranks in the heart of its capital Raqqa. | |
| Although Emwazi’s death won’t incur ISIS territorial losses, it’ll almost certainly heighten a sense of internal security paranoia that has been spreading for several months now. Kill strikes like this are often about more than just the target itself. | |
| By reminding ISIS that it is constantly under surveillance – not just from the air but possibly also by assets on the ground – the coalition is enforcing an intense psychological pressure that can severely test a terrorist groups’ cohesion and unity. | |
| 3.38pm GMT15:38 | |
| The air strike targeting Emwazi coincided with a major Kurdish and Yazidi offensive to take back the Iraqi town of Sinjar, which Isis forces swept into last year. The offensive had support from US air strikes. | |
| Buzzfeed’s Mike Giglio visited the ruins of Sinjar with the Kurdish and Yazidi coalition, tweeting what he saw and heard. | |
| “Sinjar seemed like ISIS was already defeated by the time the big show of cavalry came this afternoon,” he wrote, adding that soldiers are warning to walk carefully on the streets for fear of IEDs threaded along the roads by wires. | |
| “I just came here to ease some of my pain.” a Yazidi soldier who lost seven siblings told Giglio. | |
| Just back from an hour+ in Sinjar town. No ISIS on the streets—not even corpses. They left total destruction behind: pic.twitter.com/eR4GBQLmoq | |
| Nothing but wreckage in Sinjar after a year-plus of fighting, suicide bombs, U.S. airstrikes pic.twitter.com/26ACgwxR1R | |
| 3.16pm GMT15:16 | |
| The mother of James Foley, the American journalist murdered by Isis on video, has said that Emwazi’s killing gives her no sense of solace or justice. | |
| “It saddens me that here in America here we’re celebrating the killing of this deranged, pathetic young man,” Diane Foley told ABC News. “Jim would’ve been devastated with the whole thing. Jim was a peacemaker.” | |
| Had circumstances been different Jim probably would’ve befriended [Emwazi] and tried to help him | |
| I mean it’s just so sad that our precious resources have been, you know, concentrated to seek revenge, if you will, or kill this man, when if a bit of them had been utilized to save our young Americans … That’s what our country should be doing, I think, is protecting our citizens and the vulnerable, the people who are suffering, not trying to seek revenge and bomb. | |
| Foley was later asked about whether a strike to kill Emwazi would at least give her a sense of justice. | |
| Justice? No, no. It’s just sad. And I think we have to be careful as an American media not to glorify this deranged young man. He’s a sad individual, filled with hate for us. I mean, no, no. that’s very sad to me. so I hope our country can choose to lead in ways of peace and bringing, valuing young Americans who are trying to protect press freedom and our best ideals. | |
| That’s the part of America I’m proud of. I don’t like this bully part, I’m sorry. | |
| Updated at 3.30pm GMT | |
| 2.59pm GMT14:59 | |
| Here’s video of Kerry’s comments: | |
| 2.56pm GMT14:56 | |
| Kerry: ‘still assessing results’ | |
| US Secretary of State John Kerry says the Pentagon is still assessing whether Emwazi was killed in the attack. | |
| Speaking on a visit to Tunis, Kerry said: “We are still assessing the results of this strike.” | |
| He told reporters extremists “need to know this: Your days are numbered, and you will be defeated.” | |
| Kerry said videos released by Isis showed Emwazi “participating in horrific murders”. | |
| Updated at 3.19pm GMT | |
| 2.46pm GMT14:46 | |
| How did a child who arrived in Britain aged six and loved football and S Club 7 go on to become the brutal Isis militant known as Jihadi John? asks this video profile of Mohammed Emwazi. | |
| 2.44pm GMT14:44 | |
| A US military briefing that is expected to cover the overnight attacks in Syria has been slightly delayed, according to our Washington correspondent Dan Roberts. | |
| The Colonel Steve Warren’s press conference is now due to start an hour later at 1600GMT. | |
| 2.38pm GMT14:38 | |
| Was the UK given the chance to launch the drone strike against Emwazi? as Rusi analyst Shashank Joshi asks. | |
| Joshi insists he has no insider information on whether the UK was given that option. | |
| But the UK was at least involved in the planning of the drone strike in what a well-placed Whitehall source described as a “long, protracted operation”, according to the Guardian’s defence and security writer Richard Norton-Taylor. | |
| It involved GCHQ interceptions from both intelligence-gathering aircraft and ground-based listening posts, alomsot certainly in Cyprus, as well as US spy planes, the source said. | |
| But it also involved other parties in the “coalition” against Isis. The source made it clear he was referring to neighbouring countries, including Jordan. | |
| He would not be drawn on whether these countries had “human sources”, ie informants, on the ground, but that was the inference. | |
| There are no British special forces in northern Syria, the source insisted. | |
| 2.05pm GMT14:05 | |
| The drone strike on Emwazi is believed to have targeted him in the centre Raqqa, close to the spot where the group have carried out a string of public executions, write Ben Quinn, Alice Ross and Kareem Shaheen | |
| Emwazi, a Briton born in Kuwait, almost certainly died in the attack alongside three people who were with him in a car, according to UK-based Syrian rights activists in touch with people in the city. | |
| “Four young men were in the car, including a British citizen who was a very senior figure,” the Guardian was told by Rami Abdel Rahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “We are 100% certain that he is dead. People have told us that there were a lot of [body] parts.” | |
| Although it remains unclear if any others in the area were hit by the explosion, the strike is in a busy part of the city right beside a traffic intersection known as the Clock Roundabout. It is also a stone’s throw from a mosque and building which has been used as an Islamic court and straddles areas that house a nearby public market. | |
| Sources in Raqqa added that the strike occurred shortly before midnight local time and that at least 14 explosions were counted in the city. The Pentagon confirmed late on Thursday night that US forces had carried out the strike. | |
| Details of the operation are spare, although though there is a strong possibility that the drone took off from a base across the border in Turkey. The Incirlik air base near the southern city of Adana has been hosting US drones which have been targeting Isis. US drones have also taken off from Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, although they are further away. | |
| Related: 'Jihadi John' Mohammed Emwazi killed in Raqqa strike, says rights group | |
| Updated at 3.19pm GMT | |
| 1.49pm GMT13:49 | |
| Labour MP and former junior minister Ian Austin has backed the drone strike against Emwazi and mocked those (including perhaps his own leader Jeremy Corbyn) who have suggested he should have been taken alive to face trial. | |
| Well done to UK & USA military & security personnel who've made sure barbaric murderer Mohammed Emwazi can't slaughter anyone else. | |
| How do people who think Emwazi should have been put on trial think this could have happened & how many others would he kill in the meantime? | |
| Look, why couldn't the police just go an arrest Emwazi? It's not as if it's a really dangerous war zone & I'm sure he'd have come quietly. | |
| Others have more explicitly attacked Corbyn’s comments. | |
| Commentator Dan Hodges, who left the Labour party after Corbyn was elected, tweeted: | |
| If the Labour Party leader can't welcome the death of a sadist like Jihadi John then it's time for Labour to pack up and go home. | |
| Updated at 1.59pm GMT | |
| 1.44pm GMT13:44 | |
| Helen Pidd | |
| Majid Freeman, 27, a humanitarian aid worker from Leicester, who was on the convoy with Alan Henning when he was taken capture by Isis in December 2013, said he had mixed feelings about Emwazi’s reported death, writes Helen Pidd. | |
| “Obviously I won’t be shedding any tears for him, but the fact is that I – along with many of the family members of those taken hostage – wanted him to be captured alive and put on trial as a war criminal. If the Americans were able to know where he was and target him in a drone strike, surely they could have captured him as they did last month when they rescued prisoners from an Iraqi jail and arrested Isis fighters? | |
| “Today David Cameron said we never forget our citizens. That’s a bit hypocritical given how the British government blocked efforts to release Alan when he was still alive. The government was happy to forget him when he was still alive. If you have any doubt about that, just look at their actions, which speak louder than their words.” | |
| Freeman claimed former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Moazzam Begg and the advocacy group Cage were trying to appeal to Henning’s captors and were making efforts to get him released before his death but that the government “blocked” them. “Moazzam Begg had been successful before in getting hostages released,” said Freeman. “All the other hostages were killed after one week, but because of the appeals, Alan’s murder was delayed, which gave the family some hope that Alan would be released. But the British military intervention into Syria is what sealed Alan’s fate. Alan didn’t have to die. The government has a lot of questions to answer.” | |
| 1.39pm GMT13:39 | |
| Capturing Emwazi wouldn’t have worked, but was Britain given the option of conducting the drone strike itself, asks Shashank Joshi senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. | |
| Writing on the Guardian Opinion site he says: | |
| Capturing Emwazi is unlikely to have been feasible, given that the strikes appear to have taken place near the Isis stronghold of Raqqa. US special forces had attempted a raid to free hostages held near Raqqa in July 2014, but failed to find them and got caught in a three-hour firefight. Emwazi seems to have been in a more populated area still, raising the risks of a large-scale capture mission. | |
| The interesting question is whether the UK, which was surely closely involved in the hunt for Emwazi, was given the option of conducting the strikes itself. This would have reinforced, legally and politically, the important precedent established by the RAF’s successful targeting of Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin in Syria in August. Any such strike would have been feted in most of the British press and welcomed by the UK’s Arab allies eager for greater British involvement. Perhaps the government was deterred by fear of derailing its fading hopes of securing parliamentary support for broader action in Syria, or perhaps it was never asked. | |
| Related: Mohammed Emwazi: the war on Isis is bigger than one man | Shashank Joshi | |
| Updated at 2.22pm GMT | |
| 1.32pm GMT13:32 | |
| A Pentagon spokesman for the US mission against Isis is due to give a briefing in 90 minutes or so, that is expected to cover the overnight attacks in Syria. | |
| Colonel Steve Warren’s press conference is due to start at 6pm Iraq time (1500 GMT). | |
| 1.24pm GMT13:24 | |
| Damien Gayle | |
| The four-bedroom home formerly occupied by Mohammed Emwazi’s family, in Kilburn, west London, is now home to eight young Italian students, writes Damien Gayle. | |
| They were unaware of its link to the world’s most wanted man. The only evidence that the home once belonged to the Emwazi family was a red water bill addressed to Jasem Emwazi, that had been delivered that morning. | |
| However, one local resident did remember Emwazi and recounted a strange story of the young man’s behaviour several years ago. The man, who gave his name as James and said he had lived in the block for six years, described how three or four years ago he left his home to find Emwazi’s brother being beaten up by a group of other youngsters. | |
| Emwazi was there, James said, but instead of helping his brother, he just watched. “He [the brother] was surrounded by kids. His mum was just coming out shouting in sympathy for her own son getting beaten. And his brother was just watching: cool, not looking angry or happy. He looked like he’s got no conscience.” | |
| Some time after, James, who gave his age as 47, said he saw Emwazi on a bike outside the property, which is in a block of council houses in a residential area. “I asked him, I said why did you allow your brother to get beaten. He said: ‘Not bothered.’” | |
| James said he was not impressed with US forces’ claim to have killed Emwazi. Speaking to reporters, he said: “It would be better if he was captured, at least they could’ve got some information.” | |
| 1.18pm GMT13:18 | |
| Cage, the advocacy group which campaigns for victims of the War on Terror, said Emwazi’s reported killing presents more questions than it does answers and that Emwazi should have been tried as war criminal. | |
| In a statement it said: | |
| Cage reaffirms its opposition to extrajudicial killing of any kind. State sponsored targeted assassinations undercut the judicial processes that provide the lessons by which spirals of violence can be stopped. Emwazi should have been tried as a war criminal. | |
| Cage would echo the comments of Diane Foley, mother of James, when she said “All people in law enforcement have to be very aware of people’s rights and respect during a very difficult situation...People have the need for respect, no matter who they are and where they are.” | |
| Raqqa residents reported 14 airstrikes last night. It is hard to envisage that Emwazi was the only casualty. Killing civilians has become part and parcel of air strikes. | |
| [Emwazi’s] killing means key crucial questions around his joining Isis, as well as the kidnapping and killing of hostages remain unanswered. | |
| Diane Foley is also right in her thoughtful and dignified response. Where she remarks that the “ 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.” | |
| The responsibility for the murders of the hostages lies firmly with Emwazi and his ISIS handlers. His journey to becoming ‘Jihadi John’ however, lay in Britain, as correspondence released by Cage clearly shows. | |
| Cage Director Adnan Siddiqui, added: “Cage’s repeated efforts and offers to negotiate for the release of Alan Henning were obstructed and squandered by the UK government and serious questions remain regarding these failures.” | |
| We offer our deepest sympathies to Alan Henning's family and to the families of all the victims. pic.twitter.com/y19sfa6yJq | |
| Updated at 1.51pm GMT | |
| 1.10pm GMT13:10 | |
| Here’s a more detail view of where Raqqa-linked activists said the drone targeting Emwazi struck. | |
| 1.07pm GMT13:07 | |
| Summary | |
| Here’s a summary of where things currently stand: | |
| 12.59pm GMT12:59 | |
| Blair urges UK to launch strikes against Isis in Syria | |
| Britain’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair said he is “fully supportive” of Britain joining the US in launching airstrikes against Isis targets in Syria. | |
| 12.40pm GMT12:40 | |
| Corbyn: 'Emwazi held to account for his callous and brutal crimes' | |
| Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has issued a relatively hawkish statement on Emwazi’s apparent killing. He said: | |
| “We await identification of the person targeted in last night’s US air attack in Syria. | |
| “It appears Mohammed Emwazi has been held to account for his callous and brutal crimes. However, it would have been far better for us all if he had been held to account in a court of law. | |
| “These events only underline the necessity of accelerating international efforts, under the auspices of the UN, to bring an end to the Syrian conflict as part of a comprehensive regional settlement.” | |
| As Patrick Wintour noted earlier Corbyn will have come under pressure from his shadow cabinet to make an unequivocal statement in support of the US drone strike. | |
| Updated at 12.41pm GMT | |
| 12.12pm GMT12:12 | |
| Middle East analysts have taken issue with David Cameron’s claim that targeting Mohammed Emwazi was a “strike at the heart of Isil”. | |
| Chris Doyle, director for Council for Arab-British Understanding, said Emwazi was only a frontman. | |
| Emwazi was not at the heart of ISIS. He was a sadistic front man. #jihadijohn | |
| Extraordinary exaggeration re: possible killing of #Emwazi. Not key to ISIS. Many other ISIS mass murderers. ISIS brutality continues. | |
| Charlie Winter, senior researcher at the anti-extremist thinktank Quilliam Foundation made a similar point on BBC News’ Victoria Live. | |
| "Jihadi John was an important figurehead but not operationally". @charliewinter on IS killer Mohammed Emwazi https://t.co/spMxHVQTNe | |
| Updated at 12.14pm GMT | |
| 11.58am GMT11:58 | |
| Guardian Visuals has put together this map of where Raqqa activists say the drone struck (see earlier). | |
| Updated at 12.01pm GMT | |
| 11.54am GMT11:54 | |
| Here’s Patrick Wintour’s account of Cameron’s statement: | |
| Related: Cameron says airstrike on Mohammed Emwazi was act of self-defence | |
| 11.45am GMT11:45 | |
| Bethany Haines: 'I felt an instant sense of relief' | |
| Bethany Haines, the daughter of murdered aid worker David Haines, has spoken of her sense of relief at reports of Emwazi’s killing. | |
| Speaking to ITV News she said: | |
| After seeing the news that ‘Jihadi John’ was killed I felt an instant sense of relief, knowing he wouldn’t appear in anymore horrific videos. | |
| He was only a pawn in Isis’s stupid game but knowing it’s over that he’s finally dead still hasn’t sunk in. | |
| 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? | |
| David Haines' daughter tells ITV: Instant sense of relief at reports 'Jihadi John' killed https://t.co/tU1QFY5CzQ pic.twitter.com/7bD2kSGt8n | |
| Updated at 11.47am GMT | |
| 11.35am GMT11:35 | |
| The anti-Isis activist group ‘Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently’, which has a network of activists in the city, has pin-pointed an area of the city where it says drone strike hit. | |
| It said the strike occurred at 11.41 pm last night near the Islamic court in the city, but they have been unable to confirm that Enwazi was killed. The group said that Islamic State has set up a massive security cordon around the area near the Islamic court building in the city, where it is believed Emwazi was targeted. | |
| #Rqqa the place of Drone Strike that killed jihadi john after the Drone Targeted his Car #ISIS close the area #Syria pic.twitter.com/tl0gWSJzn6 | |
| 11.26am GMT11:26 | |
| Stuart Henning, the nephew of murdered Isis hostage Alan Henning, said he had “mixed feelings” about Emwazi’s apparent killing. | |
| Mixed feelings today wanted the coward behind the mask to suffer the way Alan and his friends did but also glad it's been destroyed 💣 | |
| 11.16am GMT11:16 | |
| Initial political reaction to Cameron’s statement and the killing of Emwazi has been mixed. | |
| Ukip’s defence spokesman Mike Hookem said Cameron’s use of language sounded like Tony Blair’s justification of the war on Iraq. | |
| Killing Emwazi was not 'self defence' it was the targeting of an enemy combatant. Cameron using same terms as Blair justifying Iraq war. | |
| Hareetz columnist Anshel Pfeffer said it was “ridiculous hyperbole” to claim the Emwazi’s apparent killing was a strike at the heart of Isis. | |
| No-one should feel sorry in any way for Emwazi but to say the death of cowardly executioner is a "blow to ISIS" is such ridiculous hyperbole | |
| Tory MP Glyn Davies expressed support for the action. | |
| Life is precious and the taking of it is never to be welcomed, but I cannot find a scintilla of sadness about the death of Mohammed Emwazi | |
| 11.04am GMT11:04 | 11.04am GMT11:04 |
| Here are the key points from Cameron’s statement: | Here are the key points from Cameron’s statement: |
| Politics Home has the full text of Cameron’s statement. | Politics Home has the full text of Cameron’s statement. |
| Updated at 11.06am GMT | Updated at 11.06am GMT |
| 10.43am GMT10:43 | 10.43am GMT10:43 |
| Here’s the audio of Cameron’s statement: | Here’s the audio of Cameron’s statement: |
| He welcomed the reported killing of Emwazi “a strike at the heart” of terror group Islamic State. | He welcomed the reported killing of Emwazi “a strike at the heart” of terror group Islamic State. |
| Cameron said it had not yet been confirmed that Mohammed Emwazi - who he branded a “barbaric murderer” - was dead. | Cameron said it had not yet been confirmed that Mohammed Emwazi - who he branded a “barbaric murderer” - was dead. |
| But he said Britain had been working “hand in glove” round the clock with its closest ally the US to track down and target the militant, who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of several IS hostages, including Britons Alan Henning and David Haines. | But he said Britain had been working “hand in glove” round the clock with its closest ally the US to track down and target the militant, who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of several IS hostages, including Britons Alan Henning and David Haines. |
| In a statement outside 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister said that Emwazi had remained a threat to innocent people, including in the UK. | In a statement outside 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister said that Emwazi had remained a threat to innocent people, including in the UK. |
| And he said: “This was an act of self defence. It was the right thing to do.” | And he said: “This was an act of self defence. It was the right thing to do.” |
| 10.34am GMT10:34 | 10.34am GMT10:34 |
| Cameron’s says his thoughts are with the victims of Isis. “Nothing will bring back the lives of David and Alan”, the prime minister says. “They were the best of British.” | Cameron’s says his thoughts are with the victims of Isis. “Nothing will bring back the lives of David and Alan”, the prime minister says. “They were the best of British.” |
| 10.33am GMT10:33 | 10.33am GMT10:33 |
| Cameron describes Emwazi as the “lead executioner” of Isis. He says the airstrike was done in “self-defence”. He thanked the US. | Cameron describes Emwazi as the “lead executioner” of Isis. He says the airstrike was done in “self-defence”. He thanked the US. |
| 10.31am GMT10:31 | 10.31am GMT10:31 |
| Cameron says “we cannot yet be certain” that the US airstrike against Emwazi was successful. | Cameron says “we cannot yet be certain” that the US airstrike against Emwazi was successful. |
| 10.30am GMT10:30 | 10.30am GMT10:30 |
| Cameron due to make a statement | Cameron due to make a statement |
| David Cameron is due to make a statement in the next few minutes, PA reports. | David Cameron is due to make a statement in the next few minutes, PA reports. |
| Podium set up for @Number10gov statement re reported killing of "Jihadi John" in US air strike. PM expected 10:30 pic.twitter.com/H4bZmGw3MP | Podium set up for @Number10gov statement re reported killing of "Jihadi John" in US air strike. PM expected 10:30 pic.twitter.com/H4bZmGw3MP |
| 10.27am GMT10:27 | 10.27am GMT10:27 |
| Patrick Wintour | Patrick Wintour |
| Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will be coming under pressure to make an unequivocal statement in support of the US airskrikes, writes Patrick Wintour. | Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will be coming under pressure to make an unequivocal statement in support of the US airskrikes, writes Patrick Wintour. |
| It is unlikely the UK Labour Party will issue any comment until it has heard the statement from the Prime Minister. | It is unlikely the UK Labour Party will issue any comment until it has heard the statement from the Prime Minister. |
| Labour is currently opposed to UK involvement in air strikes in Syria, but this action against in Isis in its stronghold was undertaken by the US with British support | Labour is currently opposed to UK involvement in air strikes in Syria, but this action against in Isis in its stronghold was undertaken by the US with British support |
| Corbyn will be under pressure from the shadow cabinet to make an unequivocal statement in support of the US actions. In the past Corbyn, and other prominent Labour figures, have criticised the use of drones to undertake targeted assassinations. Corbyn even described the death of Osama bin Laden as a tragedy because he had not been subject to a proper trial. | Corbyn will be under pressure from the shadow cabinet to make an unequivocal statement in support of the US actions. In the past Corbyn, and other prominent Labour figures, have criticised the use of drones to undertake targeted assassinations. Corbyn even described the death of Osama bin Laden as a tragedy because he had not been subject to a proper trial. |
| Corbyn has also been pressing the UK to take further diplomatic action to end the war in Syria, while Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was in Washington this week to confer with US Secretary of State John Kerry on their approach to peace talks due to take place in Vienna on Saturday. The outcome of those talks involving all the major regional partners including Iran will filter into discussions work leaders will have at the G20 summit in Turkey on Sunday and Monday. | Corbyn has also been pressing the UK to take further diplomatic action to end the war in Syria, while Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was in Washington this week to confer with US Secretary of State John Kerry on their approach to peace talks due to take place in Vienna on Saturday. The outcome of those talks involving all the major regional partners including Iran will filter into discussions work leaders will have at the G20 summit in Turkey on Sunday and Monday. |
| The G20 will be the first time Barack Obama has met with President Putin since the Russians began air strikes in Syria to bolster President Assad. | The G20 will be the first time Barack Obama has met with President Putin since the Russians began air strikes in Syria to bolster President Assad. |
| The single biggest stumbling block to peace is the role of Assad in any transitional regime, and which groups including some previously designated terrorist groups that might be allowed to form an interim administration. | The single biggest stumbling block to peace is the role of Assad in any transitional regime, and which groups including some previously designated terrorist groups that might be allowed to form an interim administration. |
| 10.18am GMT10:18 | 10.18am GMT10:18 |
| A friend of murdered hostage Alan Henning said she is still “sceptical” of the reports that Enmwazi has been killed, PA reports. | A friend of murdered hostage Alan Henning said she is still “sceptical” of the reports that Enmwazi has been killed, PA reports. |
| Louise Woodward-Styles, who organised a candlelit vigil for the taxi driver after he was captured by the terrorists, said that, even if British-born Emwazi had been killed, the family of the 47-year-old from Salford would not get closure following his brutal murder. | Louise Woodward-Styles, who organised a candlelit vigil for the taxi driver after he was captured by the terrorists, said that, even if British-born Emwazi had been killed, the family of the 47-year-old from Salford would not get closure following his brutal murder. |
| She said: “I don’t think there will be closure, particularly for Alan’s family and close friends. | She said: “I don’t think there will be closure, particularly for Alan’s family and close friends. |
| “His body wasn’t returned home and from that aspect it was something they had to deal with privately. For them to say that Jihadi John has been killed doesn’t mean anything. It is something that the government can say they have done successfully.” | “His body wasn’t returned home and from that aspect it was something they had to deal with privately. For them to say that Jihadi John has been killed doesn’t mean anything. It is something that the government can say they have done successfully.” |
| She added that she would have preferred Emwazi to have been brought back to the UK to face justice. | She added that she would have preferred Emwazi to have been brought back to the UK to face justice. |
| “Alan has gone and nothing will bring him back. I’m slightly sceptical about the target being successful. We don’t trust the government when it comes to the war. | “Alan has gone and nothing will bring him back. I’m slightly sceptical about the target being successful. We don’t trust the government when it comes to the war. |
| “Drones are not the answer, nor is bombing innocent people. I would rather him be brought back to face justice.” | “Drones are not the answer, nor is bombing innocent people. I would rather him be brought back to face justice.” |
| 10.12am GMT10:12 | 10.12am GMT10:12 |
| Vikram Dodd | Vikram Dodd |
| Detectives and prosecutors in the UK have been building a case against Emwazi for multiple counts of murder and potential war crimes, in case he was ever captured, writes Vikram Dodd. | Detectives and prosecutors in the UK have been building a case against Emwazi for multiple counts of murder and potential war crimes, in case he was ever captured, writes Vikram Dodd. |
| The strategy they were following may give an insight into the US and UK’s basis for apparently killing him. | The strategy they were following may give an insight into the US and UK’s basis for apparently killing him. |
| The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed in February it had been working with detectives from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command to prosecute Emwazi over the videos and other suspected crimes. | The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed in February it had been working with detectives from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command to prosecute Emwazi over the videos and other suspected crimes. |
| A CPS spokesperson at the time said: “We are liaising with the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) on their assessment of the content of videos that have been posted online that appear to show the murder of hostages.” | A CPS spokesperson at the time said: “We are liaising with the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) on their assessment of the content of videos that have been posted online that appear to show the murder of hostages.” |
| SO15 had been studying the videos made and released by Isis in which the murder of hostages were depicted, accompanied by speeches from the former computer studies student. | SO15 had been studying the videos made and released by Isis in which the murder of hostages were depicted, accompanied by speeches from the former computer studies student. |
| SO15 also houses Scotland Yard’s war crimes unit, as well as building terrorism cases through its own investigations and based on material from the intelligence services MI5 and MI6. | SO15 also houses Scotland Yard’s war crimes unit, as well as building terrorism cases through its own investigations and based on material from the intelligence services MI5 and MI6. |
| 10.03am GMT10:03 | 10.03am GMT10:03 |
| Angelique Chrisafis | Angelique Chrisafis |
| Didier François, a journalist for French radio station Europe 1, was held hostage for 10 months in Syria where Emwazi was one of his jailers, writes Angelique Chrisafis in Paris. | Didier François, a journalist for French radio station Europe 1, was held hostage for 10 months in Syria where Emwazi was one of his jailers, writes Angelique Chrisafis in Paris. |
| “He was most probably one of the worst, who hit and tortured without the slightest restraint”, he told Europe 1 after reports that US strikes had targeted Emwazi. | “He was most probably one of the worst, who hit and tortured without the slightest restraint”, he told Europe 1 after reports that US strikes had targeted Emwazi. |
| François said Emwazi was “one of the jailers in charge of 19 western hostages taken by Isis in Syria in 2013. He said there was a group of four British jailers and Emwazi had been the head of them. | François said Emwazi was “one of the jailers in charge of 19 western hostages taken by Isis in Syria in 2013. He said there was a group of four British jailers and Emwazi had been the head of them. |
| “Between us, we called them the Beatles because we didn’t know their names.” There was Paul, Ringo and George, Emwazi had the name John. “He was the tallest, the calmest but also the most determined, without the slightest scruple,” François said. | “Between us, we called them the Beatles because we didn’t know their names.” There was Paul, Ringo and George, Emwazi had the name John. “He was the tallest, the calmest but also the most determined, without the slightest scruple,” François said. |
| He said he felt Emwazi had been targeted by the US now because “he had become one of the key organisers of recruitment of jihadists in Europe.” He had become the “recruitmant brains for Europe”, he said. He added that Emwazi “took care of selection and then training of jihadists candidates” in order to then send them to carry out attacks back home. | He said he felt Emwazi had been targeted by the US now because “he had become one of the key organisers of recruitment of jihadists in Europe.” He had become the “recruitmant brains for Europe”, he said. He added that Emwazi “took care of selection and then training of jihadists candidates” in order to then send them to carry out attacks back home. |
| 9.57am GMT09:57 | 9.57am GMT09:57 |
| From a “painfully shy” football-loving child to the knife-wielding Islamic State militant, the man who became one of the most haunting figures of the jihadi movement remains a mystery even after being the high-profile target of a US airstrike. | From a “painfully shy” football-loving child to the knife-wielding Islamic State militant, the man who became one of the most haunting figures of the jihadi movement remains a mystery even after being the high-profile target of a US airstrike. |
| Related: Who is Mohammed Emwazi? From shy, football-loving boy to Isis killer | Related: Who is Mohammed Emwazi? From shy, football-loving boy to Isis killer |
| 9.36am GMT09:36 | 9.36am GMT09:36 |
| Back in February Adam Goldman, a reporter from the Washington Post, discussed co-writing the story which revealed Emwazi’s identity. | Back in February Adam Goldman, a reporter from the Washington Post, discussed co-writing the story which revealed Emwazi’s identity. |
| 9.32am GMT09:32 | 9.32am GMT09:32 |
| Alan Henning's family informed | Alan Henning's family informed |
| Vikram Dodd | Vikram Dodd |
| The family of Alan Henning were informed of the strike against Emwazi, writes Vikram Dodd. | The family of Alan Henning were informed of the strike against Emwazi, writes Vikram Dodd. |
| Henning, an aid worker from Salford, was murdered and his death was recorded in a video fronted by Emwazi. | Henning, an aid worker from Salford, was murdered and his death was recorded in a video fronted by Emwazi. |
| Foreign Office officials informed Henning’s family and support is also being provided by liaison officers from Greater Manchester Police. | Foreign Office officials informed Henning’s family and support is also being provided by liaison officers from Greater Manchester Police. |
| In 2014 Henning was shown being killed in an ISIS video, despite appeals for him to be spared, including from fundamentalist Islamic figures. | In 2014 Henning was shown being killed in an ISIS video, despite appeals for him to be spared, including from fundamentalist Islamic figures. |
| 9.26am GMT09:26 | 9.26am GMT09:26 |
| The Ramadhan Foundation, a UK-based Muslim group committed to dialogue between communities, described the apparent killing of Emwazi as a “signficant moment”. | The Ramadhan Foundation, a UK-based Muslim group committed to dialogue between communities, described the apparent killing of Emwazi as a “signficant moment”. |
| But its chief executive, Mohammed Shafiq, said extra-judicial killings should not become the norm. In a statement he said: | But its chief executive, Mohammed Shafiq, said extra-judicial killings should not become the norm. In a statement he said: |
| The killing of Mohammed Emwazi in Syria is a significant moment in the fight to get justice for David Haines, Alan Henning and all the victims of this evil man. | The killing of Mohammed Emwazi in Syria is a significant moment in the fight to get justice for David Haines, Alan Henning and all the victims of this evil man. |
| The Ramadhan Foundation joins the victims of Isis and their families in preferring him to have being captured alive so he would have seen justice in a court of law but understand why this wasn’t possible. Extra judicial killing over justice in a court of law should not become the norm in fight against terrorism. | The Ramadhan Foundation joins the victims of Isis and their families in preferring him to have being captured alive so he would have seen justice in a court of law but understand why this wasn’t possible. Extra judicial killing over justice in a court of law should not become the norm in fight against terrorism. |
| Mohammed Emwazi manifested the evil and barbaric nature of this terrorist entity called Daesh which has killed thousands of Muslims, Christians, Yazidis. There is nothing he said or stood for which would justify his barbaric crimes and actions. | Mohammed Emwazi manifested the evil and barbaric nature of this terrorist entity called Daesh which has killed thousands of Muslims, Christians, Yazidis. There is nothing he said or stood for which would justify his barbaric crimes and actions. |
| Isis distort Islamic teaching to justify their violent crimes and its this ideology which we have been confronting and will continue to do. Terrorism has no religion and there can never be any justification or excuses for such actions. | Isis distort Islamic teaching to justify their violent crimes and its this ideology which we have been confronting and will continue to do. Terrorism has no religion and there can never be any justification or excuses for such actions. |
| Emwazi will now face justice in the court of God for the evil crimes he committed. Today we think of David Haines, Alan Henning, James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and all his victims brutally killed and their families” | Emwazi will now face justice in the court of God for the evil crimes he committed. Today we think of David Haines, Alan Henning, James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and all his victims brutally killed and their families” |
| 9.07am GMT09:07 | 9.07am GMT09:07 |
| Kareem Shaheen | Kareem Shaheen |
| The anti-Isis activist group ‘Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently’, which has a network of activists in the city claims there was drone strike at 11.41 pm last night near the Islamic court in the city, writes Kareem Shaheen. | The anti-Isis activist group ‘Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently’, which has a network of activists in the city claims there was drone strike at 11.41 pm last night near the Islamic court in the city, writes Kareem Shaheen. |
| But they have been unable to confirm that Enwazi was killed. The group said that Islamic State has set up a massive security cordon around the area of last night’s strike near the Islamic court building in the city, where it is believed Emwazi was targetted. | But they have been unable to confirm that Enwazi was killed. The group said that Islamic State has set up a massive security cordon around the area of last night’s strike near the Islamic court building in the city, where it is believed Emwazi was targetted. |
| The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it has confirmed from sources inside the city that a senior British figure in Isis was killed in the airstrikes last night, but has not identified him by name. | The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it has confirmed from sources inside the city that a senior British figure in Isis was killed in the airstrikes last night, but has not identified him by name. |
| Updated at 9.27am GMT | Updated at 9.27am GMT |
| 8.58am GMT08:58 | 8.58am GMT08:58 |
| Ian Black | Ian Black |
| Confirming a “kill” in a targeted attack by plane or drone on hostile territory is done in the first instance by monitoring communications – mobile phones, radio etc – in the area of operations, writes the Guardian’s Middle East editor Ian Black. | Confirming a “kill” in a targeted attack by plane or drone on hostile territory is done in the first instance by monitoring communications – mobile phones, radio etc – in the area of operations, writes the Guardian’s Middle East editor Ian Black. |
| The optimal and foolproof method of confirmation is to take a DNA sample of the victim’s remains and check it against material obtained from relatives. | The optimal and foolproof method of confirmation is to take a DNA sample of the victim’s remains and check it against material obtained from relatives. |
| But the ability to do that depends on access on the ground, which is unlikely in Raqqa, capital of the Islamic State. | But the ability to do that depends on access on the ground, which is unlikely in Raqqa, capital of the Islamic State. |
| If Emwazi is really dead, Isis will likely eventually make its own announcement. It may also deny the US claim. Given the group’s slick propaganda abilities, any statements will be subject to close scrutiny and verification. | If Emwazi is really dead, Isis will likely eventually make its own announcement. It may also deny the US claim. Given the group’s slick propaganda abilities, any statements will be subject to close scrutiny and verification. |
| Information about the reported killing and Emwazi’s high profile suggest he was under extremely tight surveillance that is likely to have combined sophisticated technical means and human intelligence: that means that whatever can be heard or seen remotely by US or allied intelligence can be supplemented by visual or other observation from an agent in the area. | Information about the reported killing and Emwazi’s high profile suggest he was under extremely tight surveillance that is likely to have combined sophisticated technical means and human intelligence: that means that whatever can be heard or seen remotely by US or allied intelligence can be supplemented by visual or other observation from an agent in the area. |
| In 2011, when US special forces killed the al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden in his Pakistani hideout, his corpse was transported to a ship for DNA tests that confirmed his identity before a funeral in the Arabian Sea. In Yemen, another theatre of operations against jihadi militants, Saudi Arabia regularly takes DNA samples of wanted men it has targeted. In several drone strikes against leaders of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, tests did not confirm that they were the correct target. | In 2011, when US special forces killed the al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden in his Pakistani hideout, his corpse was transported to a ship for DNA tests that confirmed his identity before a funeral in the Arabian Sea. In Yemen, another theatre of operations against jihadi militants, Saudi Arabia regularly takes DNA samples of wanted men it has targeted. In several drone strikes against leaders of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, tests did not confirm that they were the correct target. |
| Earlier this year the FBI confirmed the death of a wanted Jemaah Islamiya terorrist, Zulkifli bin Hir, after conducting DNA tests on a severed finger found at the scene of the commando raid that killed him in the Philippines. Three years earlier he had been reported killed in an air strike. | Earlier this year the FBI confirmed the death of a wanted Jemaah Islamiya terorrist, Zulkifli bin Hir, after conducting DNA tests on a severed finger found at the scene of the commando raid that killed him in the Philippines. Three years earlier he had been reported killed in an air strike. |
| 8.53am GMT08:53 | 8.53am GMT08:53 |
| The Joint committee on Human Rights, chaired by the former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, has launched an inquiry into the legal basis of the targeted drone strikes by UK military. | The Joint committee on Human Rights, chaired by the former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, has launched an inquiry into the legal basis of the targeted drone strikes by UK military. |
| Harman has written [pdf] to the Attorney General Jeremy Wright, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and and Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon asking for the legal basis of the strikes. | Harman has written [pdf] to the Attorney General Jeremy Wright, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and and Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon asking for the legal basis of the strikes. |
| The Committee has requested from the ministers a clear statement by next week of the Government’s policy on the use of drones for targeted killing; a comprehensive description of the legal framework, the existing guidance, the decision making process which precedes ministerial authorisation, and a summary of the existing accountability mechanisms. | The Committee has requested from the ministers a clear statement by next week of the Government’s policy on the use of drones for targeted killing; a comprehensive description of the legal framework, the existing guidance, the decision making process which precedes ministerial authorisation, and a summary of the existing accountability mechanisms. |
| 8.49am GMT08:49 | 8.49am GMT08:49 |
| Josh Halliday | Josh Halliday |
| Charlie Winter, senior researcher at the anti-extremist thinktank the Quilliam Foundation said the airstrikes demonstrates the strength of US intelligence against Isis, writes Josh Halliday. | Charlie Winter, senior researcher at the anti-extremist thinktank the Quilliam Foundation said the airstrikes demonstrates the strength of US intelligence against Isis, writes Josh Halliday. |
| Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Winter said: | Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Winter said: |
| “The fact he has been potentially killed is going to have reverberations and it will identify a very powerful asset that the coalition has - good, sound intelligence that means they can carry out surgical strikes on individual targets in Raqqa. That will perhaps count into the calculations of foreign fighters who are thinking of going to Syria, people who are thinking of joining the group because they want to have an adventure.” | “The fact he has been potentially killed is going to have reverberations and it will identify a very powerful asset that the coalition has - good, sound intelligence that means they can carry out surgical strikes on individual targets in Raqqa. That will perhaps count into the calculations of foreign fighters who are thinking of going to Syria, people who are thinking of joining the group because they want to have an adventure.” |
| “Even if he hasn’t been killed, the very fact that there was an airstrike that was targeting him and the Americans are confident in the fact they did target a convoy with Jihadi John in it - that does demonstrate they have operational intelligence of what’s happening on the ground in Syria.” | “Even if he hasn’t been killed, the very fact that there was an airstrike that was targeting him and the Americans are confident in the fact they did target a convoy with Jihadi John in it - that does demonstrate they have operational intelligence of what’s happening on the ground in Syria.” |
| Winter also pointed out that Emwazi hasn’t been seen in public since 31 January when he appeared in a video apparently killing the Japanese man Kenji Goto. | Winter also pointed out that Emwazi hasn’t been seen in public since 31 January when he appeared in a video apparently killing the Japanese man Kenji Goto. |
| 8.42am GMT08:42 | 8.42am GMT08:42 |
| David Cameron’s office has confirmed that he will make a statement later on Friday, but hasn’t said when. It said: | David Cameron’s office has confirmed that he will make a statement later on Friday, but hasn’t said when. It said: |
| “The Prime Minister will make a statement later today. We have been working hand in glove with the Americans to defeat Isil and to hunt down those murdering hostages. The Prime Minister has said before that tracking down these brutal murderers was a top priority.” | “The Prime Minister will make a statement later today. We have been working hand in glove with the Americans to defeat Isil and to hunt down those murdering hostages. The Prime Minister has said before that tracking down these brutal murderers was a top priority.” |
| 8.40am GMT08:40 | 8.40am GMT08:40 |
| McGurk: 'precision airstrike targeted Emwazi' | McGurk: 'precision airstrike targeted Emwazi' |
| Brett McGurk, Barack Obama’s deputy special envoy on countering Isis, described the attack on Emwazi as as a “precision airstrike”. | Brett McGurk, Barack Obama’s deputy special envoy on countering Isis, described the attack on Emwazi as as a “precision airstrike”. |
| US military forces targeted #ISIL terrorist Mohamed Emwazi ("Jihadi John") in a precision airstrike last night in #Raqqa. More to follow... | US military forces targeted #ISIL terrorist Mohamed Emwazi ("Jihadi John") in a precision airstrike last night in #Raqqa. More to follow... |
| The Pentagon’s mentioned an attack near Raqqah in its almost daily summary of continued airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. It said: | The Pentagon’s mentioned an attack near Raqqah in its almost daily summary of continued airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. It said: |
| On Nov. 12, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes using fighter, attack, and remotely piloted aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 18 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. | On Nov. 12, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes using fighter, attack, and remotely piloted aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 18 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets. |
| The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release: | The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release: |
| Syria | Syria |
| Iraq | Iraq |
| Strike assessments are based on initial reports. All aircraft returned to base safely. | Strike assessments are based on initial reports. All aircraft returned to base safely. |
| Updated at 9.41am GMT | Updated at 9.41am GMT |
| 8.24am GMT08:24 | 8.24am GMT08:24 |
| The prime minister’s offices acknowledges that Cameron would not be planning to make a statement in Downing Street unless British military sources were close to certain that he had been killed, Patrick Wintour adds. | The prime minister’s offices acknowledges that Cameron would not be planning to make a statement in Downing Street unless British military sources were close to certain that he had been killed, Patrick Wintour adds. |
| But Cameron may wait until the afternoon to make a statement to ensure intelligence and military sources have gathered the maximum amount of information. | But Cameron may wait until the afternoon to make a statement to ensure intelligence and military sources have gathered the maximum amount of information. |
| The legal right of British military to conduct drone strikes in Syria is questioned, although in this case it was a US strike in which Britain intelligence had been involved. | The legal right of British military to conduct drone strikes in Syria is questioned, although in this case it was a US strike in which Britain intelligence had been involved. |
| Government sources also acknowledged that his demise was being discussed on social media within Syria. | Government sources also acknowledged that his demise was being discussed on social media within Syria. |
| 8.21am GMT08:21 | 8.21am GMT08:21 |
| Downing street: 'high degree of certainty' Enwazi was killed | Downing street: 'high degree of certainty' Enwazi was killed |
| Patrick Wintour | Patrick Wintour |
| David Cameron will make a statement from Downing Street on Mohammed Emwazi following reports this morning from America that the US military are 99% certain that he has been killed in a drone strike, writes Patrick Wintour. | David Cameron will make a statement from Downing Street on Mohammed Emwazi following reports this morning from America that the US military are 99% certain that he has been killed in a drone strike, writes Patrick Wintour. |
| Number 10 and Ministry of Defence sources were marginally less certain in their response to the reports of his death that US sources, but the plan is for Cameron to make a statement later today. | Number 10 and Ministry of Defence sources were marginally less certain in their response to the reports of his death that US sources, but the plan is for Cameron to make a statement later today. |
| Number 10 sources said there was a high degree of certainty that he has been killed, and added UK military had been working hand in glove with America on the operation. | Number 10 sources said there was a high degree of certainty that he has been killed, and added UK military had been working hand in glove with America on the operation. |
| Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that the military was “assessing the results” of the strike to determine if Emwazi had been killed. | Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that the military was “assessing the results” of the strike to determine if Emwazi had been killed. |
| Enwazi is regarded as the most dangerous British member of Isis. | Enwazi is regarded as the most dangerous British member of Isis. |
| He became notorious in videos in late 2014 and early 2015 killing several American and other Western hostages. | He became notorious in videos in late 2014 and early 2015 killing several American and other Western hostages. |
| Emwazi, born in Kuwait and came to Britain in London, has appeared as a black-masked figure in videos in which the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and the American aid worker Peter Kassig were beheaded. Jihadi John to travelled to Syria in 2012 and first showed up in Islamic State videos in August 2014. | Emwazi, born in Kuwait and came to Britain in London, has appeared as a black-masked figure in videos in which the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and the American aid worker Peter Kassig were beheaded. Jihadi John to travelled to Syria in 2012 and first showed up in Islamic State videos in August 2014. |
| The drone was undertaken with hellfire missiles and the attack took place in Raqqa the headquarters of Isis in eastern Syria. | The drone was undertaken with hellfire missiles and the attack took place in Raqqa the headquarters of Isis in eastern Syria. |
| Government sources said his possible death is different from the killing of Reyaad Khan, a 21-year-old from Cardiff who was assassinated in a long-planned RAF drone strike and last night’s strike may have been a strike of opportunity by the US, as part of the coalition’s general fight against Isis. | Government sources said his possible death is different from the killing of Reyaad Khan, a 21-year-old from Cardiff who was assassinated in a long-planned RAF drone strike and last night’s strike may have been a strike of opportunity by the US, as part of the coalition’s general fight against Isis. |
| Two other Isis fighters were killed alongside Khan, in the attack on the Syrian city of Raqqa on 21 August. One of them, Ruhul Amin, 26, was also British. | Two other Isis fighters were killed alongside Khan, in the attack on the Syrian city of Raqqa on 21 August. One of them, Ruhul Amin, 26, was also British. |
| Cameron justified that killing in the sovereign territory of another country on the basis that Khan represented a specific threat to UK security, and that he had exercised the country’s “inherent right to self-protection”. | Cameron justified that killing in the sovereign territory of another country on the basis that Khan represented a specific threat to UK security, and that he had exercised the country’s “inherent right to self-protection”. |
| He said the strike was not part of the coalition’s general fight against Isis in Syria. | He said the strike was not part of the coalition’s general fight against Isis in Syria. |
| “It was necessary and proportionate for the individual self-defence of the UK,” Cameron told MPs. | “It was necessary and proportionate for the individual self-defence of the UK,” Cameron told MPs. |
| Updated at 8.25am GMT | Updated at 8.25am GMT |
| 7.56am GMT07:56 | 7.56am GMT07:56 |
| Justin McCurry | Justin McCurry |
| Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said on Friday afternoon that Tokyo was liaising with Washington over the outcome of today’s air strikes. | Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said on Friday afternoon that Tokyo was liaising with Washington over the outcome of today’s air strikes. |
| Suga said the Japanese government was “aware of the Pentagon’s press statement on this matter, and we understand that the Pentagon is assessing the results of the operation. The government of Japan is in contact with the US government about the details”. | Suga said the Japanese government was “aware of the Pentagon’s press statement on this matter, and we understand that the Pentagon is assessing the results of the operation. The government of Japan is in contact with the US government about the details”. |
| Emwazi is believed to have beheaded two Japanese hostages, journalist Kenji Goto and security consultant Haruna Yukawa, earlier this year. | Emwazi is believed to have beheaded two Japanese hostages, journalist Kenji Goto and security consultant Haruna Yukawa, earlier this year. |
| In late January Islamic State released a video, called A Message to the Government of Japan, showing a militant who looks and sounds like Emwazi. The man, armed with a knife and dressed in black with his face covered, stands behind Goto before beheading him. | In late January Islamic State released a video, called A Message to the Government of Japan, showing a militant who looks and sounds like Emwazi. The man, armed with a knife and dressed in black with his face covered, stands behind Goto before beheading him. |
| Isis had targeted Japanese citizens after the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, publicly pledged 200 million US dollars in non-military aid to countries engaged in the fight against the group. | Isis had targeted Japanese citizens after the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, publicly pledged 200 million US dollars in non-military aid to countries engaged in the fight against the group. |
| 7.52am GMT07:52 | |
| Jihadi John targeted in US airstrikes | Jihadi John targeted in US airstrikes |
| Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State executioner known as Jihadi John, has been targeted by US airstrikes in the Syrian city of Raqqa on Thursday. | Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State executioner known as Jihadi John, has been targeted by US airstrikes in the Syrian city of Raqqa on Thursday. |
| The Pentagon said that a drone had targeted a vehicle believed to be carrying Emwazi in Raqqa, the de facto capital of Isis in northern Syria. | The Pentagon said that a drone had targeted a vehicle believed to be carrying Emwazi in Raqqa, the de facto capital of Isis in northern Syria. |
| There are reports claiming US sources are “99% sure” the extremist was killed in the strike, but these have not yet been independently verified by the Guardian. Activist groups in Raqqa reported airstrikes and an explosion through the night of 12 November. | There are reports claiming US sources are “99% sure” the extremist was killed in the strike, but these have not yet been independently verified by the Guardian. Activist groups in Raqqa reported airstrikes and an explosion through the night of 12 November. |
| A statement by Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook says: | A statement by Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook says: |
| U.S. forces conducted an airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, on Nov. 12, 2015 targeting Mohamed Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John.” | U.S. forces conducted an airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, on Nov. 12, 2015 targeting Mohamed Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John.” |
| Emwazi, a British citizen, participated in the videos showing the murders of U.S. journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley, U.S. aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, and a number of other hostages. | Emwazi, a British citizen, participated in the videos showing the murders of U.S. journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley, U.S. aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, and a number of other hostages. |
| We are assessing the results of tonight’s operation and will provide additional information as and where appropriate. | We are assessing the results of tonight’s operation and will provide additional information as and where appropriate. |
| Related: 'Jihadi John': US air strike targets Isis terrorist Mohammed Emwazi | Related: 'Jihadi John': US air strike targets Isis terrorist Mohammed Emwazi |
| Updated at 7.54am GMT | Updated at 7.54am GMT |