2 of ISIS’s Infamous British Fighters Are Captured by Syrian Kurds
But the British government has stripped Mr. Kotey and Mr. Elsheikh of their citizenship, according to a United States official.
A senior United States official said Mr. Kotey and Mr. Elsheikh had provided valuable information to military interrogators about the remaining Islamic State leadership
and support structure, which are under tremendous pressure from air and ground attacks.
suspected that the two men were foreign fighters and gave them access to American Special Operations forces, United States officials said.
8, 2018
WASHINGTON — Syrian Kurdish fighters have detained two British men infamous for their role in the Islamic State’s imprisonment, torture
and killing of Western hostages, according to American officials.
It was not clear whether the Justice Department would prosecute the two men or when the United States military would take custody of them.
Mr. Kotey, 34, and Mr. Elsheikh, 29, were detained by the American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led militia, which is fighting the last pockets of Islamic State insurgents in Syrian towns
and villages along the Euphrates River south to the border with Iraq.