WASHINGTON: The US military conducted an air strike in Syria on Thursday targeting "Jihadi John", the masked, British-accented self-styled Islamic State (IS) militant seen in videos executing hostages, the Pentagon said.

Spokesman Peter Cook did not specify whether Mohammed Emwazi had been killed, saying in a statement that "we are assessing the results of tonight's operation and will provide additional information as and where appropriate." The Pentagon said the air strike took place in Raqa.

"Emwazi, a British citizen, participated in the videos showing the murders of US journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley, US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, and a number of other hostages," the Pentagon said.

Word of the US action comes as Iraqi Kurdish forces backed by US-led air strikes blocked a key IS group supply line with Syria in the battle to retake the town of Sinjar from the jihadists.

Also read: German IS rapper killed in air strike in Syria: US

A permanent cut in the supply line would hamper IS's ability to move fighters and supplies between northern Iraq and Syria, where the jihadists hold significant territory and have declared a “caliphate".

Britain 'not yet certain'

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday it was not yet clear whether the IS group's militant known as “Jihadi John” had been killed in a US air strike in Syria.

Cameron said the strike had targeted British citizen Mohammed Emwazi but added: “We cannot yet be certain if the strike was successful” in a statement delivered outside his Downing Street office.

He added: “This was an act of self-defence, it was the right thing to do."

Emwazi, a London computer programmer, was born in Kuwait to a stateless family of Iraqi origin.

His parents moved to Britain in 1993 after their hopes of obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship were quashed.

Dubbed "Jihadi John", he first appeared in a video in August of 2014 showing the beheading of Foley, a 40-year-old freelance journalist who had been missing since he was seized in Syria in November 2012.

Video of the beheading, titled "A Message to America", sparked worldwide revulsion. In it, IS declares that Foley was killed because President Barack Obama ordered air strikes against the group in northern Iraq.

Also read: IS executioner 'Jihadi John' named as London tech worker

Foley is seen kneeling on the ground, dressed in an orange outfit that resembles those worn by prisoners held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

Two weeks later, his fellow US hostage Steven Sotloff was killed in the same manner, again on camera and by the same British-accented executioner.

On November 16, IS said it had executed Peter Kassig, a 26-year-old US aid worker kidnapped in Syria in October 2013, as a warning to Washington.

Also read: Al Qaeda financier in Syria killed in US coalition air strike: Pentagon

Editorial

Ominous demands
Updated 18 May, 2024

Ominous demands

The federal government needs to boost its revenues to reduce future borrowing and pay back its existing debt.
Property leaks
18 May, 2024

Property leaks

THE leaked Dubai property data reported on by media organisations around the world earlier this week seems to have...
Heat warnings
18 May, 2024

Heat warnings

STARTING next week, the country must brace for brutal heatwaves. The NDMA warns of severe conditions with...
Dangerous law
Updated 17 May, 2024

Dangerous law

It must remember that the same law can be weaponised against it one day, just as Peca was when the PTI took power.
Uncalled for pressure
17 May, 2024

Uncalled for pressure

THE recent press conferences by Senators Faisal Vawda and Talal Chaudhry, where they demanded evidence from judges...
KP tussle
17 May, 2024

KP tussle

THE growing war of words between KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi is affecting...