A $1million bounty has been put on the head of a sniper who was said to have shot dead British terror suspect the White Widow.
Samantha Lewthwaite, the world's most wanted woman, was reportedly gunned down by a Russian marksman in war-ravaged Ukraine in Eastern Europe.
The shock claim, by respected Moscow news agency Regnum, was being probed by Western intelligence agencies.
According to Regnum, the 30-year-old was killed two weeks ago after joining the conflict in Ukraine, fighting for a pro-government group.
It said: "One of the world's most wanted terrorists Samantha Lewthwaite , who fought as part of a Ukrainian battalion, has been killed by a volunteer sniper.
"According to our information, the White Widow fought on the side of Ukrainian volunteer battalion Aidar as a sniper."
It went on: "The Russian sniper who killed the British terrorist now has a price of nearly one million dollars on his head from Ukrainian special services." The bounty is worth around £630,000.
Muslim convert Lewthwaite – who was married to London 7/7 suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay – went on the run three years ago after being linked to a failed plot to blow up hotels and a shopping centre in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2011.
The mum-of-four has reportedly been seen across Kenya and Somalia after allegedly becoming a top commander within al-Shabaab – the terror gang behind the Nairobi mall atrocity, when at least 67 people died in September last year.
Interpol effectively made her the world's most wanted woman after the horror.
Experts said the latest claims could be plausible if it was found Lewthwaite travelled to Ukraine to join radical Islamists fighting against Russia. Whitehall sources said the reports were "acknowledged but so far unverifiable".
The White Widow's dad, former British soldier Andrew Lewthwaite, 58, said at his house in Aylesbury, Bucks: "I have heard nothing. No one has told me anything. I'm not saying anything."
Lewthwaite allegedly left Britain in 2009 before being linked to atrocities in Africa. Reports last month claimed she had joined Islamic State fighters in Syria and was one of its most powerful women.
Reports of her death came amid masses of propaganda from Moscow and Kiev over the Ukrainian crisis. And counter-terrorism expert Prof Anthony Glees said the claims could be a "diversion" by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He warned: "Putin is using reports like the sighting of the White Widow to disguise the fact Russian tanks are pouring over the Ukrainian border with a view to taking Donetsk. We must not be distracted.
"Putin sees we are in disarray over the growing threat of terrorism and is trying to exploit our weakness."
