ISIS 'Beatles' moved from Syrian prison into US custody

Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh who were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed "The Beatles,"
AP

Two British ISIS fighters known as “The Beatles” have been moved out of their Syrian prison and are in US custody.

The prisoners were transferred along with others amid fears some could escape custody as Turkey invades northeast Syria, officials said.

The two men, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey made up part of the ISIS cell nicknamed The Beatles.

In 2014 and 2015, the militants held more than 20 Western hostages in Syria and tortured many of them.

It beheaded seven American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers and a group of Syrian soldiers.

US officials said the two were taken out of Syria by US military and law enforcement personnel to ensure they did not escape if security broke down as a result of the Turkish incursion.

Turkey is attacking the US-backed Syrian Defence Forces, a Kurdish force that battled the Islamic State group alongside American troops and now is responsible for guarding thousands of detained militants.

But guarding those prisoners is now expected to be less of a priority for the Kurdish forces as they rush to defend their territory against the invading Turkish military.

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that some of the "most dangerous" had been moved.

"We're putting them in different locations where it's secure," Mr Trump said.

Agencies contributed to this report

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in