Britain is investigating reports that the man believed to have carried out beheadings in videos released by Islamic State (IS), has been wounded in a US-led air strike.
The British national, dubbed “Jihadi John” by the UK media, was believed to have been injured in an attack on a summit of IS leaders, Britain’s Mail on Sunday reported.
The group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was also said to have been wounded in the attack in an Iraqi town close to the Syrian border.
“We are aware of reports,” a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
“We cannot confirm these reports.”
US officials have also said they cannot confirm whether Baghdadi was hit in a strike near Falluja in Iraq.
According to the Mail on Sunday, which said its source was an unnamed nurse, “Jihadi John”, Baghdadi and other wounded IS figures were taken to hospital and then driven to the Syrian city of Raqqa.
It is not clear how serious their injuries were.
In videos released by IS, the masked, black-clad militant brandishing a knife and speaking with an English accent appears to have carried out the beheadings of two Americans and two Britons.
ABC/Reuters
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