An ISIS executioner dubbed Jihadi John was holding a kebab when he was gunned down by a British-led drone, a mission chief has said.
The ISIS fighter, who was identified by GCHQ analysts as Mohammed Emwazi, was traced to a takeaway by MI6 in 2015.
Intelligence agency bosses waited until a young boy who was with him left the area before ordering the strike in Raqqa, Syria.
The Hellfire missile was nearly aborted when the boy had come back, however he was blocked by vehicles.
A military official said the operation was led by USAF and RAF drone specialist in Qatar, while being supported by agents in Syria.
They explained that they had been following Emwazi for six weeks, determining his pattern of visiting a building near his mosque.
He would then arrive in a four by four truck and stay for around three to four minutes, they added.
‘The team asked MI6 about the building and it came back that it was a kebab shop,’ they told The Sun.
‘One day, as he left the kebab shop and the boy ran off to play football, we saw our opportunity,’ they mentioned. ‘Emwazi was eliminated, kebab still in hand.’
An ISIS executioner, Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, was holding a kebab at the moment he was struck down by a British-led drone, according to a mission leader.
‘One day, as he left the kebab shop and the boy ran off to play football, we saw our opportunity,’ they mentioned. ‘Emwazi was eliminated, kebab still in hand.’
Kuwaiti-born Emwazi became part of a terrorist group with three other Britons known as the IS Beatles. They were responsible for the execution of at least 29 hostages, including aid worker David Haines.
Emwazi came to Britain at six years old and seemed to adopt British culture, enjoying football in the well-to-do areas of west London and being a Manchester United fan.
Neighbors described him as a polite, quietly spoken, and shy youth who was diligent in his Church of England school, being the sole Muslim student in his class.
He was also reportedly bullied at his secondary school, Quintin Kynaston Community Academy, in St John’s Wood, north London, for having bad breath.
It was only after he won a place studying computing at the University of Westminster that his behaviour began to change.
The university has since been linked with several proponents of radical Islam, and Emwazi appeared to have fallen under their sway.
He began attending different mosques and was known to associate with Bilal el-Berjawi, who was killed by a drone strike in Somalia three years ago.
In August 2009, after his graduation, Emwazi flew to Tanzania in East Africa with friends and told authorities they were going on a wildlife safari.
David Haines was captured and beheaded in 2014 after being held by a four-man terrorist group of Britons dubbed ‘The Beatles’
Bethany Haines, the daughter of David Haines, who was murdered by Islamic terrorists, arrives at the Albert V. Bryan Federal Courthouse in 2022 during the trial of El Shafee Elsheikh
El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, a former British citizen, was sentenced to life in US prison
But the group was refused entry and put on a plane to the Netherlands, where Emwazi later claimed he was questioned by an MI5 agent called ‘Nick’.
Emwazi’s hatred of the West stemmed from the perceived injustice of how he was dealt with by MI5 and Scotland Yard.
In August 2014, the terrorist was seen threatening the country beheading American journalist, James Foley, in scenes that shocked the world
Emwazi posted two more clips of brutal beheading, the first of another American journalist – Steven Sotloff – and the other of British aid worker David Haines.
As well as Haines, Foley and Sotloff, the gang’s victims also included Americans Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
Robert Hannigan, a former director of GCHQ, the British signals intelligence agency, said it was Emwazi’s voice and his British accent that was key to unveiling his identity.
In 2019, he told the documentary: ‘We had a race to find out who he was – his size, his hands, but, above all, his voice, made identifying him quite easy.’
Emwazi reportedly used very strong encryption and virtual private networks to communicate and wiped every computer he sent or received messages to safeguard it from bugs.
He also regularly surrounded himself with women and children to make a drone attack likely to result in civilian deaths.
Details about his death, come as his accomplice, El Shafee Elsheikh – known as Jihadi Ringo – applied to move back to his ‘home country’ Britain so he can be closer to family and friends
Bethany, the daughter of David Haines – Elsheikh’s bid to move prisons an ‘outrageous insult’.
Elsheikh was born in Sudan and grew up in London but had his British citizenship revoked in 2018. For his crimes, he was tried by a Federal jury in Virginia and handed eight life sentences.
Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh were both prosecuted in the US. Kotey pleaded guilty and was also sentenced to life in prison
Bethany, 28, from Perthshire, also recently raised fears that a second member of The Beatles terror cell, Alexanda Kotey, will attempt to follow the lead of Eisheik and will apply to move to a UK jail.
Left: US freelance journalist Steven Sotloff. Right: Kayla Mueller is shown after speaking to a group in Prescott, Arizona. Both were killed in Syria by ISIS
Mr Haines with his brother David (left) in the late 1990s. David was captured by militants in Syria in March 2013 while delivering aid to the war-torn country
He has now applied to be switched from his Colorado prison to a UK jail under the International Prisoner Transfer Program, claiming he would like to be closer to family and friends, The Sun reports.
Families of the victims fear Elsheikh could be moved to somewhere like London’s Belmarsh where convicts have access to a number of luxuries like TVs and games consoles and can mix with other extremists.
US President Donald Trump’s Deputy Assistant Sebastian Gorka recently called for the UK to honour a ‘commitment’ to take back IS Brits.
Bethany, 28, from Perthshire, also recently raised fears that a second member of The Beatles terror cell, Alexanda Kotey, will attempt to follow the lead of Eisheik and will apply to move to a UK jail.
