The latest issue of Dabiq, the Town & Country of the bloodthirsty would-be caliphate, just arrived. Included, along with the usual rote propagandizing and tasteful page layouts, is an obituary for the masked militant known as Jihadi John, whose video executions helped make ISIS a household name in terror.

The death of Muhammad Jassim Abdulkarim Olayan al-Dhafiri was first reported by the U.S. government in November of 2015, after the Pentagon said he’d been successfully vaporized in a drone strike. But the spread in Dabiq provides the first official confirmation from the side of ISIS, along with what might be the first photo of the militant’s unmasked face after entering the Islamic State, says Rukmini Callimachi of the New York Times.

From the article:

On Thursday, the 29th of Muharram, 1437, Abū Muhārib finally achieved shahādah for the cause of Allah, which he had sought for so long, as the car he was in was targeted in a strike by an unmanned drone in the city of ar-Raqqah, destroying the car and killing him instantly. May Allah accept our brother among the shuhadā’, envelop him with His mercy, and enter him into the highest levels of al-Firdaws.

The piece also notes his fondness for orphans, though his streak of decapitations is omitted.

Contact the author at biddle@gawker.com.
Public PGP key
PGP fingerprint: E93A 40D1 FA38 4B2B 1477 C855 3DEA F030 F340 E2C7