Donald Trump says British Isis ‘Beatles’ have been taken into US custody
US President Donald Trump this morning said that two British Isis fighters known as “The Beatles” had been taken into US custody in Syria.
The pair, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, are among a group of four British Isis fighters who were nicknamed The Beatles by Western hostages because of their accents.
They are accused of being involved in the beheading and torture of prisoners.
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The pair had been held by Kurdish forces in Syria but have now been taken into US custody following the start of a Turkish offensive against Kurdish forces.
Trump tweeted this morning: “In case the Kurds or Turkey lose control, the United States has already taken the 2 ISIS militants tied to beheadings in Syria, known as the Beetles [sic], out of that country and into a secure location controlled by the U.S. They are the worst of the worst!,” he said.
On Monday, Trump announced that US forces would pull out of Syria, a move that was labelled a “stab in the back” by Kurdish forces who had been an ally of the US in the fight against Isis.
Read more: Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Turkish economy if it defies his ‘unmatched wisdom’
Yesterday, Turkey and its Syrian allies launched an offensive into northeastern Syria.
President Tayyip Erdogan said the offensive aimed to eliminate a “terror corridor” along the southern Turkish border.
Kurdish controlled prison camps in Syria contain thousands of former Isis fighters and their family members and sympathisers.
On Monday, Trump said that if Turkey did anything he considered “off limits” he would “totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey”.
Trump also said Turkey along with “Europe and others” must “watch over the captured ISIS fighters and families”.