Officials: U.S. military has custody of ISIS militants who tortured Western hostages
Two Islamic State militants have been turned over to the United States military by Kurdish fighters who had been holding them in a prison in Syria, a U.S. official told Reuters on Wednesday.
A second U.S. official said the men were part of a cell nicknamed "The Beatles," because there were four of them and they are British. They tortured Western hostages and played a role in the murders of several Americans, including journalist James Foley in 2014. The militants, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, are now in Iraq, The Washington Post reports.
The men were moved out of Syria ahead of Turkey's assault on the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria. The Kurds helped defeat ISIS in Syria, and have been guarding about 12,000 prisoners. Since the U.S. announced it would pull back its troops and not stop Turkey from advancing into Syria, the Kurds have said they can no longer have as many fighters keeping an eye on the ISIS prisoners.
