Remains of 30 people believed killed by IS found in Syria by Qatar and FBI
Dozens of gravesites are being searched in Syria.
The remains of 30 people believed to have been killed by the so-called Islamic State group (IS) have been found in a remote Syrian town in a search led by search teams from Qatar and the FBI, according to a statement from Qatari officials.
The Qatari internal security forces said the FBI had requested the search, and that DNA tests are currently under way to determine the identities of the people.
Dozens of foreigners, including aid workers and journalists, were killed by IS militants who had controlled large swaths of Syria and Iraq for half a decade and declared a so-called caliphate.
The militant group lost most of its territory in late 2017 and was declared defeated in 2019.
Since then, dozens of gravesites and mass graves have been discovered in northern Syria containing remains and bodies of people IS had abducted over the years.
American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as humanitarian workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig, are among those who were killed by IS.
John Cantlie, a British correspondent, was abducted alongside Mr Foley in 2012, and was last seen alive in one of the extremist group’s propaganda videos in 2016.
The search took place in the town of Dabiq, near Syria’s northern border with Turkey.
Mass graves have also found in areas previously controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad who was ousted in a lightning insurgency last December, ending his family’s half-century rule.
For years, the Assads used their notorious security and intelligence agencies to crack down on dissidents, many who have gone missing.
The United Nations in 2021 estimated that over 130,000 Syrians were taken away and disappeared during the uprising that began in 2011 and descended into a 13-year civil war.
