Jihadi John

British terrorist and murderer

Muhammad Emwazi (Arabic: مُحَمَّد جَاسِم عَبْد ٱلْكَرِيم عَلِيَّان ٱلظُّفِيرِي; born Muhammad Jassim Abdulkarim Olayan al-Dhafiri, 17 August 1988 – 12 November 2015) was a Kuwaiti-born British Arab terrorist. He moved to London in 1994. He was thought to be the person seen in several videos produced by the militant group ISIL. The videos showed the beheadings of captives in 2014 and 2015. A group of his hostages nicknamed him "Jihadi John" since he was part of a four-person terrorist cell with British accents whom they called "The Beatles".

Mohammed Emwazi
مُحَمَّد جَاسِم عَبْد ٱلْكَرِيم عَلِيَّان ٱلظُّفِيرِي
Born
Muhammad Jassim Abdulkarim Olayan al-Dhafiri

(1988-08-17)17 August 1988[1]
Died12 November 2015(2015-11-12) (aged 27)
Cause of deathDrone strike
Other names"Mohammed Emwazi"[3]
"John the Beatle"[4]
"Jailer John"[5]
Abu Abdullah al-Britani[6]
Abu Muharib al-Yemeni[7]
Mohammed al-Ayan[8]
Muhammad ibn Muazzam[9]
Mohammed Al-Zuhary[10]
Abu Muharib al-Muhajir[11] Jihadi John[3]
CitizenshipBritish[12]
EducationBSc (lower second-class honours) in Information Systems with Business Management from the University of Westminster (2009)[13][14]
Known forIslamic State beheading incidents
Allegiance Al-Nusra Front (2012–13)[7]
Islamic State (2013–15)[7]
Years of service2012–2015[15]
Battles/warsSyria

On the night of 12 November 2015, US officials reported that Emwazi had been hit by a drone strike in Al-Raqqah, Syria. The following day, UK officials stated a “high degree of certainty” that Emwazi was killed.[16] He was declared dead later that day.

References

change
  1. "First Photo of 'Jihadi John' As Adult Revealed". Sky News. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017.
  2. "Mother recognised Mohammed Emwazi's voice on hostage videos". BBC. 2 March 2015.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "'Jihadi John': Why do we give notorious criminals nicknames?". The Independent. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022.
  4. Byman, Daniel (2019). "John the Beatle and the Syrian Civil War". Road Warriors: Foreign Fighters in the Armies of Jihad. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 164–203.
  5. "The hunt for British jihadist 'Jailer John'". The Times. 21 August 2014.
  6. "Dozens of jihadis in fighting in Syria using the name 'al-Britani'". The Independent. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Jihadi John: A quiet man who hated Britain and was 'always ready for war'". ITV News. 25 February 2015.
  8. "Mohammed Emwazi Revealed As Jihad John: What We Know About Islamic State's Most Wanted Man". The Huffington Post. 2 March 2015.
  9. "Mohammed Emwazi: Man identified as Isis killer 'Jihadi John' 'stopped by MI5' while on safari holiday in Africa in 2010". The Independent. 26 February 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022.
  10. "The moment Jihadi John may have become a terrorist". The Washington Post. 2 March 2015.
  11. Cite error: The named reference cnn_obituary was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  12. Cite error: The named reference Bryan was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  13. "'Jihadi John' Used To Be 'Kind And Gentle'". Sky News. 27 February 2015.
  14. "Jihadi John: Student record of Mohammed Emwazi leaked". The Daily Telegraph. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  15. "'The best employee we ever had': Mohammed Emwazi's former boss in Kuwait". The Guardian. 2 March 2015.
  16. "'Jihadi John': high degree of certainty US airstrike killed Mohammed Emwazi, sources say". The Guardian. 13 November 2015.