The Beatles
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"The Beatles" were an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria cell named after the British pop band The Beatles due to their British accents. The group was responsible for multiple beheading videos, including those depicting the executions of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning. Members of the cell were nicknamed "Jihadi John", "Jihadi Ringo", "Jihadi George" and "Jihadi Paul" after John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Paul McCartney, the four members of the Beatles band.
"Jihadi John", the leader of the group and the one who carried out the beheadings, was identified in 2015 as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-British national. He was killed by a United States drone strike in 2015. "George" and "Ringo" were identified as Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, although which was which remains unclear. Both Kotey and Elsheikh were convicted in the United States of eight counts of kidnapping and murder. The identity of "Paul" remains unknown. He is thought to be Aine Davis, a British man currently awaiting trial for financing terrorist actions in Syria.
History edit
The Beatles first came to public attention on 19 August 2014, when captured journalist James Foley appeared in a video released by Islamic State. In the video, a masked man with a British accent who called himself "John" was shown standing over a bound Foley and demanding that the United States government cease their intervention in Iraq. "John" then decapitated Foley off-camera and declared that another captive journalist, Steven Sotloff, would be beheaded if his demands were not met.
When the group's demands were not met, Islamic State released another video on 2 September 2014. This once again showed "John", this time standing over Steven Sotloff. "John" beheaded Sotloff and repeated his demands. On 13 September, yet another video was released, this time aimed at British Prime Minister David Cameron. This video showed "John" beheading British aid worker David Haines. Another video on 3 October had "John" beheading British aid worker Alan Henning. A fifth video, released 16 November, had "John" posing with the severed head of American aid worker Peter Kassig, followed by footage of "John" and three others beheading a group of 22 captive Syrian soldiers. The final two videos, on 24 and 31 January 2015, depicted the beheadings of Japanese aid workers Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto.
So-called "Jihadi John" was made the subject of an international manhunt. The investigation was assisted by ransomed former prisoners of Islamic State who had been guarded by the cell. They stated that "John" and his three accomplices, who they had referred to as "Ringo, George, and Paul", had all been British militants and had held around 23 Western hostages in cramped cells. The four, collectively known as "the Beatles", had regularly tortured their hostages through beatings, electric shocks and waterboarding, and on one occasion had crucified James Foley. They had also performed a number of mock executions on their captives until they became used to it, meaning they appeared calm when they appeared in the real videos.
A lengthy investigation eventually identified all four of the so-called "Jihadi Beatles". "John" was Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-British national who had migrated in 2006 to join militant groups in Somalia. Factors in his identification included voice recognition technology and a distinctive vein pattern on the back of his hand. Information from hostages ultimately led to three other British militants - Alexanda Kotey, El Shafee Elsheikh and Aine Davis - being named as the other three Beatles. A manhunt for the four saw the United States military track Emwazi to Raqqa, where he was blown up by a drone strike on 12 November 2015. His death was confirmed by Islamic State in January 2016.
The day after Emwazi's death, Aine Davis was arrested in Turkey. Convicted of membership in Islamic State, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. Kotey and Elsheikh evaded detection for longer but were eventually captured by American troops in January 2018 while trying to flee Syria. After lengthy legal proceedings, both were extradited to the United States to stand trial for murder and received life sentences. Aine Davis served five years of his seven-year sentence before being released and deported back to Britain, where he was arrested for supporting terrorist actions. He is currently awaiting trial. Mohammed Khalifa, an associate of the cell who recorded the beheading videos, was captured by the Syrian military in 2019 and sent for trial in the USA, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.