Jihadi John

Mohammed Emwazi (born Muhammad Jassim Abdulkarim Olayan al-Dhafiri; محمد جاسم عبد الكريم عليان الظفيري; 17 August 1988 – 12 November 2015) was a British militant of Kuwaiti origin seen in several videos produced by the Islamist extremist group Islamic State (IS) showing the beheadings of a number of captives in 2014 and 2015.

A group of his hostages nicknamed him "John" since he was part of a four-person terrorist cell with English accents whom they called 'The Beatles'; the press later began calling him "Jihadi John".

Emwazi was born Muhammad Jassim Abdulkarim Olayan al-Dhafiri on 17 August 1988 in Kuwait as the eldest of five children to Jassem and Ghaneyah Emwazi.

The family, who were Bidoon of Iraqi origin, lived in the Taima area of the town of Al Jahra, which was known as a "slumtown" where stateless people were ghettoized by the Kuwaiti government.

They were undocumented, considered stateless and without Kuwaiti citizenship status.

The family moved to the United Kingdom in 1994 when he was six.

They settled in inner west London, moving between several properties in Maida Vale, later living in St John's Wood and finally in Queen's Park.

Emwazi attended St Mary Magdalene Church of England primary school, and later Quintin Kynaston School.

In 2006, he went to the University of Westminster, studying Information Systems with Business Management.

He secured a lower second-class Bachelor of Science honours degree on graduation three years later.

At age 21, he worked as a salesman at an IT company in Kuwait and was considered by his boss as the best employee the company ever had.

At some point he became a British citizen.

Emwazi was given the nickname "John" by a group of his hostages.

The hostages said that he guarded Western hostages while handling communications with their families, and was part of a terrorist cell they called 'The Beatles' because the cell members all had British accents.

The nickname refers to John Lennon of the Beatles; the three other group members were each given the first name of one of the other Beatles.

The nicknames "Jihadi John", "Jailer John" and "John the Beatle" were created by journalists.

He was kidnapped in Al-Dana, an area held then by IS, on 27 December 2013.

"Jihadi John" was used on 20 August 2014 in the conservative magazine The Spectator in a piece titled "Jihadi John – a very British export" by Douglas Murray, a frequent critic of Islam, and soon after joined by the BBC and other sources.

The following are reported victims of Jihadi John:

In a video uploaded to YouTube on 19 August 2014, Foley read a prepared statement criticising the United States, the recent airstrikes in Iraq, and his brother who serves in the US Air Force.

Emwazi, wearing a mask, also read a prepared statement in which he criticised US and President Barack Obama and made demands to cease the 2014 American-led intervention in Iraq.

The masked man then beheaded Foley off-camera, after which he threatened to behead Steven Sotloff if his demands were not met.

The FBI and US National Security Council confirmed that the video, which included footage of Foley's beheaded corpse, was genuine.

On 2 September 2014, a video was released reportedly showing American journalist Steven Sotloff's beheading by Emwazi.

The White House confirmed the video's authenticity.

On 13 September 2014, a video, directed at British Prime Minister David Cameron, was released, showing British hostage aid worker David Haines being beheaded by Emwazi.

On 3 October 2014, a video released by IS showed Emwazi beheading British aid worker Alan Henning.

Henning, a taxi driver from Salford, Greater Manchester, had volunteered to deliver aid to Syria.

On 16 November 2014 a video was posted by IS of Emwazi standing over a severed head, which the White House confirmed was that of Peter Kassig.

Kassig's actual beheading was not shown, and unlike earlier hostage beheading videos he did not make a statement.

There has been speculation that, faced with the prospect of being beheaded, he may have resisted and been shot dead: a senior surgeon performed a detailed examination of the video and saw possible evidence of a gunshot wound.

The video that ended with a shot of Kassig's severed head showed the beheadings of a number of Syrian soldiers in gruesome detail, by a group led by a masked Emwazi.

It was said by the BBC that, unlike previous videos, this one shows the faces of many of the militants, indicates the location as being Dabiq in Aleppo Province, and that this video "revels in gore."

Unlike previous videos that cut away without showing the killing, Emwazi is shown beheading a victim.

Initially, the number killed was variously reported as at least 12, or 18.

Subsequent analysis by the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium and UK-based counter-extremism think tank Quilliam concluded that 22 captive soldiers were executed.

Haruna Yukawa, age 42, was captured sometime before August 2014.

Kenji Goto, age 47, was captured sometime in October 2014 while trying to rescue Yukawa.

On 12 November 2015, United States officials reported that Emwazi had been hit by a drone strike in Raqqa, Syria.

His death was confirmed by IS in January 2016.