It sounds extremely bizarre, but there’s actually an ISIS terrorist group that calls themselves ‘The Beatles’! And that’s a group of people that the United Kingdom does not want to own. For the sake of ease, we’ll call them the ISIS Beatles. Here’s what we know about them.
Who are the ISIS Beatles?
So, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh are two Londoners who are accused of belonging to this ISIS-related cell. The British government accuses the ISIS Beatles to be behind the killings of a number of 27 Western hostages in Iraq and Syria in 2014. The victims included American journalists and British aid workers. The ISIS Beatles beheaded the hostages while filming their deaths and uploading them on social media.
The hostages dubbed them as “The Beatles” because of their British accents. One of the victims was British photojournalist John Cantlie. She was kidnapped in 2012 in Syria along with US reporter James Foley. Upon learning of the capture of the ISIS Beatles, Cantlie’s sister said:
“We’ve only ever wanted these two to face justice. The families of all the American and all the British people who were taken, so that’s David Haines, Alan Henning and John Cantlie… they need nothing less than a fair trial.”
Where are they now?
Kotey and Elsheikh are now in US custody in Iraq, as the UK government has sent evidence to the US for the two to be in the US. The mother of one of the suspects did try to block the transfer of evidence in court. However, Britain’s High Court rejected her request. Hence, the ISIS Beatles are on their way to be tried across the pond.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary of Boris Johnson’s government tweeted that:
Pleased to say that the further evidence to support the prosecution of Kotey & El Sheikh has now finally been transferred to the US.
The agreement to transfer the evidence against the ISIS Beatles was only made possible after the US guaranteed that they will be spared the death penalty. Of all the ways the fab four want to be remembered, this is definitely not one of them.
