Two alleged "Islamic State" (IS) militants from the United Kingdom were brought to the United States on Wednesday to face charges of torture, beheadings, and other acts of brutal violence against hostages in Syria, the US Justice Department said.

El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey are two of four men dubbed "the Beatles'' by those held hostage, owing to their captors' British accents.

The defendants made their first appearance Wednesday afternoon in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, where a grand jury delivered an eight-count indictment that accuses the pair of "leading participants in a brutal hostage-taking scheme" that resulted in the killings of Westerners, including American journalist James Foley.

A year ago, the US moved the two alleged militants out of Syria to Iraq.

In 2014 and 2015 "the Beatles" filmed themselves beheading British, American, and Japanese journalists and aid workers, as well as a group of Syrian soldiers. The filmed executions circulated the globe as IS propaganda.

US seeks 'justice'

The case highlights the Justice Department's intent to prosecute, in US courts, militants captured abroad, said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, who vowed that other extremists "will be pursued to the ends of the earth."

"If you have American blood in your veins or American blood on your hands, you will face American justice," said Demers, the department's top national security official.

jsi/rc (AFP, AP, Reuters)