Jihadi John 'evaporated' by a US drone strike: Pentagon working to confirm if Britain's ISIS executioner has been killed in a 'flawless clean hit' while climbing into a vehicle in Raqqa

 Emwazi, aged 15, in the playground of Qunitin Kynaston Academy in North London, in May 2004

American forces have carried out an air strike in Syria which has reportedly killed Jihadi John.

Officials in the US are scrambling to confirm whether he has been killed, following the drone attack in Raqqa, Islamic State's capital.

But one defence official told ABC News that the British Isis militant, whose real name is Mohammed Emwazi, 'evaporated' after a 'flawless' and 'clean hit' as he left a building and climbed into a vehicle.

Pentagon Press secretary Peter Cook said:  'US forces conducted an airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, on November 12, 2015 targeting Mohamed Emwazi, also known as 'Jihadi John'. 

'We are assessing the results of tonight's operation and will provide additional information as and where appropriate.'

A senior US defence official told CNN that they knew it was Emwazi before they struck in a mission he described as involving 'persistent surveillance'. Another British jihadi may been caught in the strike too, according to The Washington Post.

Emwazi, 27, carried out a number of beheadings of Western hostages in Syria and was top of the UK Govenrment's 'kill list' of up to a dozen British radicals whom ministers want taken out with targeted drone strikes.

Russia had always made capturing the Kuwaiti-born man a priority.

He has been the subject of a manhunt for more than a year, after he first appeared in a beheading video in August 2014.

He is believed to have been involved in the murders of British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, American journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley, American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig (also known as Peter Kassig) and Japanese journalist Kenji Goto.

In the videos, the tall masked figure was clad in black and speaking in a British accent. 

He began one of the gruesome videos with a political rant and a kneeling hostage before him, then ended it holding a large knife in his hand with the headless victim lying before him in the sand.

Journalist Sotloff's mother, Shirley Sotloff was unaware of the air strikes, but said Emwazi's death would not bring closure. 

 Emwazi has been the subject of a manhunt for more than a year, after he first appeared in a beheading video, dressed all in black, in August 2014

She told NBC News: 'If they got him great. But it doesn't bring my son back.' 

Diane Foley, the mother of James Foley, who previously said she had forgiven Emwazi, told ABC News: 'This huge effort to go after the this deranged man filled with hate when they can't make half that effort to save the hostages while these young Americans were still alive.' 

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'We are aware of the US statement about the air strike targeting Mohamed Emwazi. Like them, we are not commenting further at this stage.' 

In September the MailOnline revealed that Emwazi had a crippling fear of being killed in a drone attack and shielded himself behind civilians in the hope it will stop him being targeted.

Two visitors to ISIS territory described how he and his depraved cohorts fled onto a football pitch packed with civilians in a desperate attempt to dodge a drone attack.

Emwazi emigrated with his family to London in 1994, aged six. He attended Qunitin Kynaston Academy and then went on to study computer programming at the University of Westminster, graduating in 2009.

He was reported missing in August 2013 and it was confirmed in December that year that he had travelled to Syria. 

He had been known to MI5 and was detained a number of times in 2009, but never charged. 

It was believed that he had been a member terrorist supporters and was in contact with one of the men involved in the London 7/7 bombings in 2005, two weeks after the attacks which killed 52 people.