jihadi figure

Mohammed Emwazi

محمد إموازي

Also known as: Jihadi John • the Briton

Journeys

Mohammed Emwazi: How a London Graduate Became the World's Most Wanted Executioner

The story of Mohammed Emwazi is inseparable from the stories of the hostages he executed — James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Alan Henning, Peter Kassig — all of whom appear in this archive. But it is also its own story: about radicalisation, about what the British security state missed, and about how ISIS weaponised a man's accent to terrify an audience it wanted to reach.

Biography

Mohammed Emwazi, known internationally as 'Jihadi John,' was a British national of Kuwaiti origin who became ISIS's most visible executioner. Raised in London, he appeared in a series of filmed executions of Western hostages in 2014-2015 — including James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Alan Henning, and Peter Kassig — becoming the global face of ISIS's hostage-murder campaign. He was killed in a US drone strike in Raqqa on November 12, 2015. His case raised urgent questions about radicalisation in Europe and the failure of British security services to prevent it.

Documentation Status

VerificationConfirmed

Journeys1

Key Facts

Born:1988-08-17

Place:Kuwait City, Kuwait

Died:2015-11-12

Nationality:British (Kuwaiti-born)