Last 2 British ISIS 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US officials

They are part of notorious group known for brutal torture, killing of Western hostages

WASHINGTON • Syrian Kurdish fighters have detained two men infamous for their role in ISIS' imprisonment, torture and killing of Western hostages, US officials said.

The men were part of a group of four Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militants known as the "Beatles" because of their British accents.

Officials identified the two men captured as Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who have been stripped of their British citizenship, a United States official said. They were the last two members of the group to remain at large.

The ringleader, Mohammed Emwazi, was killed in an air strike in 2015 in Syria after an intensive manhunt. Known as "Jihadi John", he beheaded US and British hostages. A fourth man, Aine Davis, is imprisoned in Turkey on terrorism charges.

All four had lived in West London. Kotey, born in London, is of Ghanaian and Greek Cypriot background, while Elsheikh's family fled Sudan in the 1990s. Both men have been designated foreign terrorists by the United States.

The British extremists were known for their brutality. They repeatedly beat the hostages they kept imprisoned in Raqqa, Syria, formerly ISIS' self-declared capital, and subjected them to waterboarding and mock executions. Emwazi was believed to have killed American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as Abdul-Rahman Kassig, an aid worker. The US government says the group beheaded more than 27 hostages.

According to the State Department, Kotey "likely engaged in the group's executions and exceptionally cruel torture methods, including electronic shock and waterboarding. Kotey has also acted as an ISIS recruiter and is responsible for recruiting several United Kingdom nationals to join the terrorist organisation."

Colonel John Thomas, a spokesman for the US Central Command, said US forces had assisted in identifying the militants and were interrogating them. "We are looking to exploit real-time intelligence. But so far nothing of a grand nature has been obtained," Col Thomas said.

He said the militants could be intentionally providing incorrect information or were not up to date with the latest information, so a thorough analysis was under way.

Elsheikh travelled to Syria in 2012 and joined Al-Qaeda in Syria before aligning himself with ISIS. "Elsheikh was said to have earned a reputation for waterboarding, mock executions and crucifixions while serving as an ISIS jailer," the State Department said.

Kotey, 34, and Elsheikh, 29, were detained by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led militia, which is fighting the last pockets of ISIS insurgents in Syrian towns and villages along the Euphrates River south to the border with Iraq. US officials were informed in the middle of last month that the militia might have captured the men.

The SDF suspected the two men were foreign fighters and gave US Special Operations forces access to them, US officials said. The Americans confirmed their identities using fingerprints and other biometric measurements.

Their capture and detention was described to The New York Times by several US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity as details of the case remain secret.

It was not clear if the Justice Department would prosecute the two men or when the US military would take custody of them. For the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and other officials who have long worked on the case, bringing back the men to face federal prosecution would be a major victory.

Britain, a close ally of the US, could object to sending the men to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, which has a toxic image abroad - even though they have been stripped of their citizenship.

Last year, The Times of London reported that the government had rescinded the British citizenship of about 150 dual citizens who were suspected of having joined ISIS, in order to keep them from re-entering the country.

NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 10, 2018, with the headline Last 2 British ISIS 'Beatles' captured in Syria: US officials. Subscribe