British computer hacker killed in US drone strike

A British computer hacker accused of being a prominent member of the so-called Islamic State (IS) terror group has been killed in a US drone strike in Syria.

Junaid Hussain, 21, from Birmingham, is thought to have died in a coalition air strike that targeted him as he was travelling in a vehicle in Syria, US sources were quoted as saying.

Hussain, who was married to former punk rocker Sally Jones, is thought to have fled to Syria in 2013 while he was on bail in the UK.

Muslim convert Jones, 45, from Kent, is thought to have sneaked into Syria at the end of 2014, following an online romance with Hussain.

Hussain was jailed for six months in 2012 after admitting making nuisance calls to a counter-terror hotline and leaking Tony Blair’s address book online.

Since escaping to Syria, he is reported to have been an important figure in the so-called Islamic State’s online recruitment, radicalisation and hacking network, making him a key target for the US military, who included him at number three on a Pentagon “kill list” of ’IS’ leaders.

A neighboursaid she believed Hussain’s family had “found out [the death] happened three weeks ago”.

“They haven’t been out of the house in three weeks, and I feared what had happened then. But I’d heard nothing about it, until now.

“People must think he had come from a dreadful family, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. They [his parents] tried to stop him going. They were very upset when he did go, and they have been ever since.”