ISIS has confirmed the death of “Jihadi John” — aka Mohammed Emwazi, aka Abu Muharib al-Muhajir — in the latest issue of its Dabiq magazine. In November the US military said it was “reasonably certain” it had killed him in the IS-stronghold of Raqqa. Emwazi appeared in beheading videos of victims including UK aid worker David Haines and taxi driver Alan Henning.

The confirmation in Dabiq was the first time ISIS addressed the militant’s death. The magazine told the story of his journey into ISIS in a two-page article and reported that he was killed instantly by the drone strike. As the masked face of ISIS, Jihadi John was featured in a series of hostage videos, dressed head-to-toe in black — his eyes and voice his lone revealing features — and holding a knife.

It reported he was originally from the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula, and that he traveled at a young age with his family to London, a place he “grew to hate.” Dabiq said he was shot in the back during one battle in Syria. Emwazi is believed to have traveled to Syria in 2012 and joined ISIS there. He soon became a regular in hostage videos and participated in beheadings.

Analysts describe him as grotesque and fond of sadistic torture techniques, with one former hostage recounting in October how his captor made him dance the tango with him. There was no evidence suggesting Jihadi John was an important spiritual leader of the group, as ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is, nor is there any evidence he played any kind of important military role for ISIS.

But he was a celebrity within the terror organization.

 Learn Inclusively – Improve Your Vocabulary 

• Beheading means cut off the head of (someone)
• Grotesque means a very ugly or comically distorted figure or image.
• Hostage means a person seized or held as security for the fulfillment of a condition.
• Recounting means give an account of an event or experience.