Kurds Confirm ISIS Cell 'The Beatles' Detained, James Foley's Mother Wants Them Put on Trial

An official with the mainKurdish force in Syriasays U.S.-backed fighters have captured a British extremist last month trying to flee to Turkey.

Redur Khalil of the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, said a member of the Islamic State group, Alexanda Amon Kotey, 35, was detained on Jan. 24.

Khalil told The Associated Press that Kotey, who was known among the extremists as Abu Saleh, was detained by an anti-terrorism unit of the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northern Raqqa province, once an ISIS stronghold.

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The mother of slain hostage James Foley says she wants two British men who were part of the Islamic State cell that killed her son to be tried and imprisoned for the rest of their lives.

Diane Foley welcomed the capture of the men who were part of a group known as “The Beatles” because of their British accents.

Foley told the BBC on Friday that the arrests announced Thursday won’t bring her son back, but “hopefully it protects others from this kind of crime.”

She says “their crimes are beyond imagination. They really have not done anything good in the world, so I think they need to spend the rest of their life being held.”

James Foley was killed on Aug. 19, 2014, after being held hostage for several months.

U.S. officials have confirmed that El Shafee Elsheikh and Kotey, who grew up in London before traveling to the Middle East to join ISIS, were captured in early January in eastern Syria. They were part of the insurgent cell commonly dubbed “The Beatles.”

Khalil said Kotey was planning to flee to Turkeyin cooperation with friends on the Turkish side of the border.

Asked about Elsheikh, Khalil refused to comment.

He added that Kotey is being held by the SDF for questioning.