The airstrike allegedly targeted Emwazi’s vehicle near the Syrian city of Raqqa – the self-proclaimed capital of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
“We are assessing the results of tonight’s operation and will provide additional information as and where appropriate,”Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told the media.
He was subsequently shown in other videos of further IS beheadings of US journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, UK taxi driver Alan Henning, and American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter Kassig.
In August, Emwazi threatened to return to the UK with the Khalifa (the leader of the caliphate) to ‘cut heads off.’ The footage was said to be the first glimpse of the IS militant since he appeared unmasked in February.
“When there are people anywhere in the world who commit appalling and heinous crimes against British citizens, we will do everything we can with the police, with the security services, with all that we have at our disposal to find these people and put them out of action,” Cameron said at the time.
Born in Kuwait, childhood friends of the 27-year-old said he spoke little English when he arrived in the UK in 1993. He was the only Muslim pupil in his class at St. Mary Magdalene Church of England primary school in Maida Vale, West London.
He regularly attended a mosque with his parents and five siblings, as well as embracing the British culture of his classmates, one source said.
The British authorities first came into contact with Emwazi in 2009 after he was stopped during a post-graduation safari trip to Tanzania. They claimed he had links to the Somali Islamist militant group Al-Shabab.
According to advocacy group CAGE, which was in contact with Emwazi for two years before he disappeared, he was subsequently denied passage to Kuwait several times. They also claim MI5 tried to turn him into an informant.