Briton who beheaded US journalists said hurt in strike

Daily Mail reports that Islamic State terrorist ‘Jihadi John’ who killed Foley, Sotloff, was injured in attack targeting IS leader al-Baghdadi

By Lazar Berman 16 November 2014, 2:05 am 9 Edit

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

The British Islamic State terrorist known as “Jihadi John” was injured in the US-led strike last Saturday that wounded the organization’s leader, according to reports that reached the UK’s Foreign Office, a British newspaper claimed.

The British government is working to confirm the reports, the Daily Mail reported Saturday night.

‘We are aware of reports that this individual has been injured, and we are looking into them,” the Foreign Office told the Daily Mail.

Jihadi John is the masked IS terrorist who murdered two kidnapped American journalists and two British aid workers in separate videotaped beheadings.

The strike took place early last Saturday in the town of al-Qa’im in Iraq’s Anbar province. Ten IS terrorists were killed and around another 40 injured.

According to the Daily Mail, at least 30 tribal elders from Syria and Iraq had gathered at an underground bunker in al-Qa’im in order to swear allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Jihadi John was also present at the meeting, which has bombed by American and Iraqi jets.

A nurse at a hospital in the Syrian city Deir-ez-Zour confirmed to the Daily Mail’s source that Jihadi John was treated at the facility.

The source also said that Jihadi John, al-Baghdadi, and other wounded IS members were then rushed to the city of Raqqa, where they were placed in underground former Syrian army barracks.

He also revealed that, unlike other Western recruits, Jihadi John has risen through the IS ranks, moving from a prison guard to a member of the governing council of an IS province. The source put Jihadi John’s age as between 28 and 31.

The jihadist organization triggered global outrage when it released videos of a man with a British accent killing first James Foley then Steven Sotloff, freelance journalists who were kidnapped in Syria. The same man then murdered British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning.

In addition to murdering the hostages, the Islamic State group has seized a large tract of territory spanning eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq, in a brutal and bloody campaign.

In September, the FBI announced it had identified Jihadi John, but did not release his real name.

On August 8, President Barack Obama ordered air strikes against the group in Iraq, and this week expanded the campaign — backed by Arab allies — to hit IS targets across the border in Syria.

US authorities expect a long conflict against the group of at least three years, and have expressed concerns that hundreds of Muslims from Europe or the Americas have joined the group.

There are fears in Western capitals that battle-hardened fighters may return from the field and launch attacks in their home countries.

Times of Israel staff, AP, and AFP contributed to this report.