Jihadi John has been confirmed dead by militant Islamic group Daesh in propaganda magazine Dabiq
Aine Davis and Alexanda Kotey are said to have attended the same West London mosque as Mohammed Emwazi - the killer given the moniker Jihadi John University of Westminster/YouTube

KEY POINTS

  • Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were detained by Kurdish forces in Syria, US officials say.
  • Along with cohorts 'Jihadi John' Mohammed Emwazi and Aine Davis, they killed and tortured dozens.
  • 'Jihadi John' was killed in a drone strike in 2015.

A pair of Isis fighters who were among bloodthirsty group of four British islamists known as 'the Beatles' because of their English accents, have been captured in Syria, it has been reported.

US officials said that Kurdish forces had detained Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh who are thought to have tortured and beheaded dozens of people along with their cohorts Jihadi John' Mohammed Emwazi and Aine Davis.

The group are thought to have beheaded more than 27 hostages and would torture their victims with waterboarding and electrocution.

Ringleader Emwazi was killed in a drone strike in 2015 and Davis was jailed in Turkey on terrorism charges.

The American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as Abdul-Rahman Kassig, an aid worker are thought to be among their victims.

The New York Times reported that Kotey and Elsheikh were detained by Kurdish-led militia the Syrian Democratic Forces and handed over to US special forces, having been identified through their fingerprints and other biometric data.

Elsheikh, 29, was a former child refugee from Sudan and had been working in the UK as a mechanic. He was known as a QPR fan whose father described his radicalisation as "lightening fast".

Rashid Sidahmed Elsheikh said, according to the Mail Online: "We tried to handle this in a mild, considerate way but before we could do anything, he just left."

Meanwhile, Kotey, 34, who is half-Ghanaian and half-Cypriot, converted to Islam after falling in love with a Muslim woman and had two daughters with her.