The search and rescue group has found the remains of three unidentified bodies so far, according to anonymous sources.
A Qatari mission has begun searching for the remains of United States hostages killed by the ISIL (ISIS) armed group in Syria about 10 years ago, according to the Reuters news agency, citing two sources briefed on the mission.
Qatar’s International Search and Rescue Group began the search on Wednesday, with the help of several US nationals who wished to remain anonymous, the news agency reported.
So far, three unidentified bodies have been found by the group, according to the sources. The mission’s focus was on locating the body of aid worker Peter Kassig, who was beheaded by ISIL in 2014 in Dabiq, northern Syria, a Syrian security source told Reuters.
US aid worker Kayla Mueller as well as US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were among other Western hostages killed by ISIL. Foley and Sotloff were confirmed killed in 2014. Mueller’s killing was confirmed in 2015.
“We’re grateful for anyone taking on this task and risking their lives in some circumstances to try and find the bodies of Jim and the other hostages,” said Diane Foley, James Foley’s mother. “We thank all those involved in this effort.”
The Qatari mission is getting under way as US President Donald Trump prepares to visit Doha and other Gulf Arab capitals next week and as Syria’s new government seeks relief from sanctions imposed by the US.
Washington, along with some other Western governments, has said it will wait to see how the new authorities exercise their power and ensure human rights before lifting any sanctions.
The United Kingdom last month removed its sanctions on 12 Syrian government entities, including the Ministries of Defence and Interior and the General Intelligence Directorate.
Longstanding commitment
ISIL once controlled vast swaths of Syria and Iraq, ruling over millions of people. At the peak of its power from 2014-2017, it beheaded numerous people in captivity, including Western hostages, and released videos of the killings.
A coalition of more than 80 countries, led by the US, was formed to fight ISIL in September 2014.
The war against the group officially ended in March 2019, when US-backed and Kurdish-led fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces captured the eastern Syrian town of Baghouz, the last sliver of land ISIL controlled.
Plans for the Qatari mission were discussed during a visit to Washington in April by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and State Minister Mohammed Al Khulaifi – a trip also designed to prepare for Trump’s visit to Qatar, one of the sources told Reuters.
Another person familiar with the issue said there had been a longstanding commitment by successive US administrations to find the remains of the murdered US nationals, and that there had been multiple previous “efforts with US government officials on the ground in Syria to search very specific areas”.
The person did not elaborate, the report said. But the US has had hundreds of soldiers deployed in northeastern Syria that have continued pursuing ISIL’s remnants.
The person said the remains of Kassig, Sotloff and Foley were most likely located in this part of the country. Mueller’s case was different as she was in the custody of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the person added.
Two ISIL members, both former UK citizens who were part of a cell dubbed the “Beatles” that beheaded US hostages, are serving life prison sentences in the US.