British extremists dubbed 'Beatles' captured on Iraq/Syria border, reports
Two British extremists believed to have been members of Islamic State's brutal executions group dubbed "The Beatles" have reportedly been captured.
Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were detained by US-allied Kurdish militia fighters in January, the New York Times (NYT) said.
Along with Mohammed Emwazi - the killer nicknamed Jihadi John - and Aine Davis, they are believed to have been part of a group named after the 60s band because of their English accents.
The four Londoners were linked to a string of hostage murders in Iraq and Syria during the bloody Islamist uprising.
Unnamed US Officials told the NYT that Kotey and Elsheikh were captured by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces which were fighting the last remaining pockets of IS fighters near the river Euphrates on the Iraq/Syria border.
It added that the men were identified by fingerprints and other biometric means.
Former child refugee Elsheikh was a mechanic from White City in west London, and Alexanda Kotey was from Paddington.
In January 2017, US authorities named Kotey as a member of the cell and said they had imposed sanctions on him.
Emwazi, who was killed in a US air strike in 2015, appeared in a number of videos in which captives including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning were beheaded.
The fourth member, Davis, was convicted of being a member of a terrorist organisation and jailed for seven-and-a-half years at a court in Silivri, Turkey, in May 2017.
- Press Association
