'Jihadi John' wounded in airstrike

"Jihadi John" is accused of killing two British hostages. Photo / YouTube

"Jihadi John", the man accused of executing British hostages David Haines and Alan Henning and two Americans held by Isis, may have been injured in an airstrike on an Iraqi town close to the Syrian border a week ago.

The UK Foreign Office said it had received reports the terrorist had been wounded but could not confirm them.

A spokesman said it did not have the resources in Syria to enable it to verify the rumours but confirmed the office had received reports.

It was reported that the British-accented militant had been wounded while attending a meeting of Islamic State leaders and was rushed to hospital following the US-led attack on a bunker in Al Qaim, western Iraq, last Saturday that killed around ten Isis commanders and wounded 40 more.

It was the same attack that injured elusive Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, sparking initial rumours that he had been killed.

"Jihadi John", named after Beatle John Lennon due to his British background, is believed to be responsible for the murders of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid workers Mr Haines and Mr Henning.

The masked executioner, who goes by the nomme de guerre Jalman Al-Britani, has become a leading figure in the Islamist group.

A nurse who treated some of those wounded in the attack reportedly said there was a man named Jalman on her list, referring to him as "the one who slaughtered the journalists".

The wounded men were then driven to the Isil's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, according to the Mail's source.

British intelligence officers estimate that there are around 500 home-grown militants fighting for Isil in Syria and Iraq, and Prime Minister David Cameron this week announced plans to stop them returning to Britain for two years.

He said jihadis who have travelled to fight with extremists will not be able to return to Britain for two years.