BREAKING NEWS: American woman hostage held by ISIS 'killed by Jordanian air strike'

Tragic: Kayla Jean Mueller, 26, is understood to be the last U.S. hostage held by the terror group, which had been demanding $6.6 million for her release

Islamic State militants have released a statement claiming that a female American aid worker has been killed during a Jordanian air strike.

Kayla Jean Mueller, 26, is understood to be the last U.S. hostage held by the terror group, which had been demanding $6.6 million for her release. 

Her death is not yet been verified by independent sources and could easily be a propaganda move by the terror group to lay blame for the woman's death at the door of Jordan.

Earlier this week the Kingdom vowed to destroy ISIS and stepped up airstrikes on the group's de facto capital Raqqa after the militants filmed themselves burning Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasaesbeh to death while he was locked in a cage.

Victim: Kayla Jean Mueller is believed to have been captured by ISIS scouts in Aleppo in August 2013 along with a number of Syrian aid workers, including her boyfriend

Shocking: American officials said they were looking into the reports if Kayla Jean Mueller's death. The White House said it did not have immediate comment

Blast: ISIS released images of this badly damaged building in which they claimed Kayla Jean Mueller had been killed during an Jordanian airstrike

In August 2013, U.S. officials and Mueller's family in her hometown of Prescott, Arizona had requested that her name not be published for fear of putting her in further danger.

ISIS had reportedly demanded more than $6 million for her release and is believed to have sent a video of Mueller wearing a burqa and pleading for her life to her aid worker colleagues last August, according to the New York Times

A statement released this afternoon by ISIS sources said: 'The criminal Crusader coalition aircraft bombarded a site outside the city of Raqqa today at noon while the people were performing the Friday prayer.'

 

The air assaults were continuous on the same location for more than an hour,' it added before sharing photographs of a bombed out building that it claimed had come under attack.

ISIS then claimed Mueller had been inside the building at the time and had been killed, but added that no militants had been injured. 

There were no images of Mueller herself and ISIS' claim could not be independently verified.

Mueller is believed to have been working with Spanish Doctors Without Borders when she and her boyfriend ventured into the Syrian city of Aleppo in August 2013.

Shortly after arriving the pair are believed to have been kidnapped by Islamic State militants and taken to the terror group's stronghold and de facto capital Raqqa.

Rubble: ISIS Mueller had been inside the building at the time of the airstrike and had been killed. The group added that none of its militants had been injured during the raid

Several images of the damaged building were released by ISIS but there was no proof of Mueller being killed

Islamic State militants have claimed an American aid worker was killed during a Jordanian air strike, it has been reported. Above, a Jordanian Royal Air Force F-16 fighter jet pictured yesterday

 

American officials said they were looking into the reports of Mueller's death. The White House said it did not have immediate comment.

The statement could not be independently verified but initially appeared on a militant website commonly used by ISIS and was also distributed by ISIS-affiliated Twitter users.

If her death is confirmed, she would be the fourth American to die while in the captivity of the Islamic State militants. 

Three other Americans, journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid worker Peter Kassig were beheaded by the group.

Jordan, which is part of a U.S.-led coalition bombing Islamic State group targets in Syria, stepped up its attacks after ISIS announced it had killed a captive Jordanian pilot. 

The Syrian government said yesterday that dozens of Jordanian fighter jets had bombed Islamic State training centers and weapons storage sites. It did not say where the attacks occurred.

There was no word from the Jordanian government on whether its planes had struck Raqqa today although unverified reports on social media claimed the city had been hit multiple times.

Brutal: Kayla Jean Mueller's death is not yet been verified by independent sources and could easily be a propaganda move by the terror group to lay blame for the woman's death at the door of Jordan. Earlier this week the Kingdom vowed to destroy ISIS after Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasaesbeh was filmed being burnt to to death while he was locked in a cage (pictured)

Visit: A sombre-looking King Abdullah II of Jordan (right) is seen sitting alongside Moaz al-Kasasbeh's father Saif (left) earlier this week as he paid tribute to the murdered pilot

Mueller is believed to have been captured by ISIS scouts in Aleppo in August 2013 along with a number of Syrian aid workers, including her boyfriend.

All of the other aid workers are believed to have subsequently been released by the terror group. 

Mueller is from a small town in the mid-west where her father runs an auto body repair shop.

Her parents, both in their early 60s, have a large detached home on the side of a hill in a rural area of the state.

The university graduate was a determined activist as a young woman who volunteered for three years with a coalition battling genocide in war torn African nations.

The young humanitarian conducted two silent walks in her hometown to raise awareness surrounding the issue. 

She also wrote letters and placed calls to members of Congress to push for a change in US policy.

Her efforts landed her with several youth awards and she went on to dedicate her life to humanitarian aid. 

KAYLA JEAN MUELLER IS THE LATEST IN A LONG LINE OF WESTERN AID WORKERS AND JOURNALISTS TO DIE IN THE HANDS OF THE TERROR GROUP 

If Kayla Jean Mueller was killed by ISIS, she would be the latest in a string of victims killed while being held hostage by the terror group.

James Foley

US journalist James Foley, who was taken hostage at gunpoint in northern Syria in November 2012, was the first Islamic State prisoner to be beheaded on film – killed by the man now known to be Jihadi John.

ISIS posted the graphic video of his death, shot in an unknown location, on social media last August as proof of their barbaric actions. It would be the first of a number of similarly brutal videos.

Steven Sotloff

Two weeks later ISIS released a video that shows the beheading of a second American journalist, Steven Sotloff.

In the clip the group said his murder was in retaliation for the Obama administration’s continued airstrikes in Iraq.

Mr Sotloff, 31, from Miami, freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines. He vanished in Syria in August 2013 and was not seen again until he appeared in the video of Mr Foley’s beheading.

The executioner, who appeared to be the same man who killed Foley, threatened to kill a Briton who was being held hostage by the group next.

David Haines

On September 13, just two weeks after the previous video, ISIS released a clip that showed the beheading of David Haines. This time the message was directed at Prime Minister David Cameron.

The British father-of-two had spent his career as an aid worker helping to protect innocent civilians across the Third World.

Alan Henning

Just weeks later the group released footage of the beheading of 47-year-old aid worker Alan Henning.

The father of two, who had been in Syria providing aid to refugees when he was taken hostage, was murdered by the masked British militant known as Jihadi John in a video posted online.

Peter Kassig

On November 16 US aid worker Peter Kassig and 18 Syrian soldiers were beheaded in a video released by ISIS.

Kenhi Goto and Haruna Yukawa

In January this year, ISIS demanded ransom for two Japanese hostages – Kenhi Goto and Haruna Yukawa.

Just four days later, Goto appeared in a video, holding a photo of beheaded hostage Yukawa. IS demanded the release of terror suspect Sajida al-Rishawi, in exchange for Goto.

Last Saturday, a video showing the decapitated body of Goto was released by the group.

Moaz al-Kasasbeh

On Tuesday, ISIS released a video that showed captured Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burnt alive while locked in a cage.

The chilling footage, entitled 'Healing the Believers' Chests', shows the captured airman wearing an orange jumpsuit and seemingly doused in fuel as a trail of petrol leading up to the iron bars of the cage is seen being set alight.

Within an hour of the 22-minute-long video's publication, Jordan had reportedly moved ISIS-linked prisoners to a jail in the south of the country which is usually used for state executions.

Two, including would-be female suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi, were executed at dawn.