US says they got "Jihadi John" why there are still several attacks

A drone strike targeting the British IS militant

known as "Jihadi John" has been carried out in

Syria - and the US is "99% sure we got him".

Activists in the IS stronghold Raqqa said they

counted 14 airstrikes between 11.51pm and

midnight on Thursday.

They reported one of the first missiles targeted a

car near the city's Islamic court - but the area was

closed off by militants to prevent anyone from

approaching.

Eyewitnesses in Raqqa told Sky News Jihadi John -

real name Mohammed Emwazi - was taken to

hospital after the strike, with Islamic State claiming

he was injured but still alive.

Although the official line from IS leaders is that

Emwazi survived, locals told Sky the hospital has

since been closed to the public and claimed this

only happens when a senior militant has been

killed.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said: "We are still

assessing the results of this strike but the terrorists

associated with Daesh (another name for IS) need

to know this - your days are numbered and you will

be defeated."

However, a senior US defence official told Fox

News: "We are 99% sure we got him. We were on

him for some time."

Another source told ABC News Emwazi was blown

up in a "flawless" and "clean hit".

A Pentagon spokesman said later it was

"reasonably certain" he had been killed by a

Hellfire missile from a drone.

Describing Emwazi as a human animal, Colonel

Steve Warren said he was "the only high-value

individual" targeted in the strike.

He also revealed the operation was the latest in a

series of attacks on IS leaders. He said the US had

killed one mid- to upper-level IS member every

two days since May.

David Cameron said the hunt for the IS

executioner was a "combined effort" with the US

and singling him out was an act of self-defence and

"the right thing to do".

British experts contributed by helping with

intelligence gathering to "build the picture" ahead

of the airstrike, Sky's Defence Correspondent

Alistair Bunkall said

UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory

for Human Rights said three other foreign IS

fighters may have been killed with Emwazi.

The group's director Rami Abdulrahman said: "A

car carrying four foreign Islamic State leaders,

including one British Jihadi was hit by US airstrikes

right after the governorate building in Raqqa city.

"All the sources there are saying that the body of

an important British Jihadi is lying in the hospital

of Raqqa. All the sources are saying it is of Jihadi

John but I cannot confirm it personally."

Jihadi John was first seen, his face covered, in a

video in August 2014 which showed the beheading

of US journalist James Foley.

The extremist appeared in a number of other

beheading videos, including those in which UK

hostages Alan Henning and David Haines were

killed.

He also appeared in videos showing the killings of

American journalist Steven Sotloff, aid worker

Abdul-Rahman Kassig and Japanese journalist Kenji

Goto.

David Haines' daughter Bethany said: "After seeing

the news that 'Jihadi John' was killed I felt an

instant sense of relief, knowing he wouldn't appear

in anymore horrific videos."

John and Diane Foley, the parents of James Foley

said in a statement Emwazi's death would be

"really a small solace to us".

Alan Henning's nephew Stuart Henning tweeted:

"Mixed feelings today wanted the coward behind

the mask to suffer the way Alan and his friends did

but also glad it's been destroyed."

Emwazi was born in Kuwait and moved to the UK

with his family when was six. He attended state

schools, then studied computer science at the

University of Westminster before leaving for Syria

in 2013.

He and three other IS militants with British accents

- whose identities have not been made public -

were nicknamed "the Beatles" by some of their

captives.

The airstrike has again highlighted the

controversial issue of extrajudicial targeting of

British citizens overseas.

Campaign group CAGE and Labour leader Jeremy

Corbyn both said Emwazi should have been

captured and put on trial.

Elsewhere, officials in Turkey said a suspected

British associate of Emwazi has been detained in

Istanbul.

He is thought to be Aine Lesley Davis, one of a

group of UK Islamists who apparently guarded

foreign prisoners in Syria

Source: Sky News