Two British militants believed to be part of a violent Islamic State group have been moved from detention amid growing fears thousands of ISIS fighters could escape during Turkey’s assault on their Kurdish guards.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (Washington time) that the US had moved some Islamic State prisoners as Turkey began its invasion of north-east Syria.
The two men, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey, and other British jihadis, allegedly made up an IS cell nicknamed The Beatles by surviving captives because of their English accents.
In 2014 and 2015, the militants held more than 20 Western hostages in Syria and tortured many of them.
They beheaded seven American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers and a group of Syrian soldiers, boasting of their butchery in videos released to the world.
US officials said the two were taken out of Syria by US military and law enforcement personnel to ensure they did not escape if security broke down as a result of the Turkish incursion.
Turkey is attacking the US-backed Syrian Defence Forces, a Kurdish force that battled the Islamic State group alongside American troops and which now is responsible for guarding thousands of detained militants.
It began its strikes on Wednesday, with warplanes and artillery aimed at Kurdish YPG targets. The Turkish defence ministry said the army had hit 181 militant targets with air strikes and howitzers since the start of an operation dubbed “Peace Spring”.
But guarding those prisoners is expected to be less of a priority for the Kurdish forces as they rush to defend their territory against the invading Turkish military.
Mr Trump said at the White House that some of the “most dangerous” prisoners had been moved. He did not say how many or where they had been taken.
He dismissed fears that captured former ISIS fighters might escape in the chaos of a Turkish attack.
“Well, they’re going to be escaping to Europe. That’s where they want to go,” he said.
Mr Trump said many of the former fighters were of European origin and he had given European nations four chances to take responsibility for them.
He also criticised the Kurds for only fighting with the US over their own lands.
“They didn’t help us in the Second War War, they didn’t help us with Normandy,” he said.
US officials said a handful of high-profile Islamic State detainees are being relocated. Thousands of others remain in custody.
“We’re putting them in different locations where it’s secure,” Mr Trump said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said operations against remaining members of the Islamic State group were on hold following Turkey’s invasion.
Turkey sees the Kurds as a threat and is trying to create a buffer zone between the territory held by the SDF and the Syrian border.
About 30 to 50 US troops were moved out of the way from two outposts in the border region ahead of Turkey’s offensive.
-with AAP
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