Mohammed Emwazi, the infamous 27-year-old ISIS killer known to the world as “Jihadi John”, was the target of a coalition airstrike near the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, Syria and may have been incinerated in the blast — according to officials in the Pentagon, United States Secretary of State John Kerry and British Prime Minister David Cameron Friday.

Both Kerry and Cameron most recently have said they are still awaiting word on confirmation of Emwazi’s death.

“Jihadi John”, a natural born British citizen who grew up in a well-off family and even earned a degree in computer science from the University of Westminster, is responsible for the gruesome videotaped beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven J. Sotloff, among many others.

More from The New York Times:

On Friday, a senior official with the United States military said it had used a Reaper drone armed with Hellfire missiles to attack a car in which Mr. Emwazi and another militant were thought to be traveling. “We think we got him,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational details, adding that it could take a few days to get solid confirmation.

Calling the Islamic State an “evil terrorist death cult,” Mr. Cameron defended the decision to target Mr. Emwazi, who was born in Kuwait and is a naturalized British citizen, as “an act of self-defense” and “the right thing to do.”

“We have been working, with the United States, literally around the clock to track him down,” Mr. Cameron said. “This was a combined effort, and the contribution of both our countries was essential. Emwazi is a barbaric murderer.”

Kerry spoke in a similar when speaking about the airstrike, saying it wasn’t official yet that Emwazi was dead, but that all terrorists in the region should take notice, and absorb the news as a strict warning.

“Your days are numbered, and you will be defeated,” he said. “There is no future, no path forward for Daesh, which does not lead ultimately to elimination, to its destruction.”

Stay tuned to the blog for any further updates on this rapidly developing story.