Decade later: Mission to recover ISIS victims
Shafaq News/ A Qatari search-and-rescue team has launched an operation in northern Syria to locate the remains of American hostages killed by ISIS around ten years ago, according to two sources familiar with the mission.
The extremist group, which controlled large areas of Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2017, carried out a series of high-profile executions of Western hostages, distributing videos of the killings.
The Qatari team—previously deployed to disaster zones in Morocco and Turkiye—began the search last Wednesday, joined by several American personnel. Remains of three individuals have been recovered so far.
Their identities have yet to be confirmed. The length of the operation remains unclear, with no official comment from the US State Department.
The operation coincides with President Donald Trump's scheduled visit to Doha, Riyadh, and Abu Dhabi this week. It also comes as Syria's new administration moves to ease the impact of US sanctions.
Initial efforts have focused on the area around Dabiq in northern Syria, where American aid worker Peter Kassig was executed by ISIS in 2014. The team is working to determine whether his remains are among those already recovered.
James Foley and Steven Sotloff, two American journalists, were also killed by ISIS in 2014. Aid worker Kayla Mueller died the following year while in captivity. US officials confirmed she had been repeatedly abused by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before her death.
While no longer holding territory, ISIS remnants are active in rural Iraq, with security forces conducting regular operations against sleeper cells and suspected militants.
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