London: Jihadi John, the nickname given to a Briton who beheaded two British and two Americans abducted by the Islamic State(IS) Sunni radcial organisation, has reportedly been injured in an US airstrike.
The IS executioner with a London accent is believed to have narrowly escaped death when US-led forces carried out airstrikes on a bunker in northern Iraq, the Daily Mail reported, citing reports received by the UK Foreign Office.
The strikes were carried out when Jihadi John as attending a meeting of the group’s leaders in an Iraqi town close to the Syrian border last Saturday.
The meeting was targeted by American and Iraqi jets.
“We are aware of reports that Jihadi John has been injured, and we are looking into them,” a Foreign Office spokesman told the Mail Sunday.
“We have a number of sources of information coming in,” he said.
“The incident occurred last weekend, and so we have received the reports in the last few days. We don’t have any representation inside Syria, and so it is difficult to confirm these reports.”
The joint US-Iraqi mission left at least 10 IS commanders dead, and around 40 injured. Those reportedly hurt include IS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
But until now, Jihadi John’s presence at the meeting has not emerged.
Jihadi John killed American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker Alan Henning, American journalist and video reporter James Foley, and British aid worker David Haines. The four hostages were killed between August and October this year.