While it is not 100 percent confirmed, due to the inability to collect evidence on the ground, Sally Jones, the British ISIS member and recruiter, is believed to have been killed in a U.S. airstrike. Her son Jojo, 12, was also thought to be dead. Jones was dubbed “the White Widow” in the U.K. media after her husband and fellow British citizen, Junaid Hussain, was killed in a drone strike back in 2015.
Silence on social media accounts of ‘The White Widow’
As noted by the Guardian, it is not assured that Jones was killed in the strike, as other ISIS members have resurfaced after being reported dead.
However Jones regularly posted Islamic State propaganda on social media, using around 20 Twitter handles, and there has reportedly been no activity on these accounts in recent months.
A reported by The Sun, a source at Whitehall said on Wednesday that the CIA had told U.K. officials that Jones died in a Predator drone strike in June this year, close to the border between Syria and Iraq. Reportedly Jones was last seen to be fleeing with many other ISIS members from the embattled city of Raqqa, on her way to the border town of Mayadin in Syria. Reported news of her possible death was kept under wraps in the U.S. and U.K. due to fears her son may also have been killed.
However, a Pentagon spokesman, Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, said the Pentagon is unable to confirm Jones was killed in the airstrike, saying he had no information to substantiate the report.
However, he did add that this could change in the future and that they are investigating.
Former punk musician turned terror recruiter
Jones was a former British punk musician, who was last living in Chatham in Kent. She converted to Islam before traveling to Syria in 2013 to be with her husband. After his 2015 death in a U.S.
drone strike, the media gave her the nickname “the White Widow.”
The couple was accused of attempting to recruit Islamist extremists in the U.K. Jones reportedly used her many accounts on social media to recruit women to the cause, providing them with advice on how to travel to Syria. She had also given advice on the construction of homemade bombs for use in attacks on British soil and often posed with weapons in images she posted on Twitter.
Among her posts, Jones made many extremist remarks, like telling Christians they should be beheaded with a “nice blunt knife,” then their heads stuck on railings in Raqqa, offering to do it herself.
Social Media News: British White Widow terrorist Sally Jones 'killed in drone strike' https://t.co/HylrUkDUaZ from Yahoo
— Social Media Mgmt (@ManageSM) October 12, 2017
Authorities unsure her son was killed
Major General Chip Chapman, who was previously the head of counter-terrorism at the British Ministry of Defence called Jones a “significant target” due to her alliance with her husband and her active role in the recruitment of ISIS fighters. Speaking of Jones’ son Jojo, Chapman told the Press Association this was a difficult subject, as according to the UN Charters, the boy was underage to be classified a soldier. He added that even if the son had done bad things, he should not have been targeted in the drone attack, adding they are unsure whether Jojo was with her at the time.