Report: ISIS executioner injured in strike

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) member known as “Jihadi John,” believed to be responsible for the beheadings of two Americans and two Britons, has been injured in a U.S.-led airstrike, according to a report in the Daily Mail. 

The report cites a nurse who says he treated “Jihadi John,” who also goes by the name Jalman Al-Britani, at a hospital in Syria. According to the newspaper, “Jihadi John” was injured in a U.S.-led air strike in western Iraq last Saturday, and then driven into Syria. The report said it is unclear how badly he has been injured. 

There have been conflicting reports about that strike, including rumors that the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had been injured or killed. A speech by Baghdadi surfaced on Thursday, however, appearing to contradict those reports.

As for “Jihadi John,” the British Foreign Office told the Daily Mail that it is still investigating the reports. “We are aware of reports that this individual [Jihadi John] has been injured, and we are looking into them,” a spokesman said. 

The militant has a British accent, and gets his name from John Lennon of the Beatles. The Daily Mail report says that he was attending a meeting of high-level ISIS leaders when the strike occurred. 

The report comes as ISIS has released a new video claiming to have beheaded American Peter Kassig.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was asked about the report while at the G-20 summit in Australia. 

 “We should be in no doubt that I want ‘Jihadi John’ to face justice for the appalling acts that have been carried out in Syria,” Cameron said, according to Agence France Presse. “But I wouldn’t make any comment on individual issues or strikes and the like, you wouldn’t expect me to.”