Qatar searches for the remains of Americans killed by ISIS years ago in Syria

As US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf states approaches, Qatar has launched a research mission in northern Syria to locate the remains of Americans killed by ISIS nearly a decade ago.

A Qatari search and rescue team has begun operations in Syria to locate the remains of three Americans killed by ISIS nearly a decade ago, according to two sources familiar with the mission.

The two sources said that the Qatari team began its operations last Wednesday, accompanied by a number of Americans.

The team is focusing its efforts on areas in northern Syria to search sites believed to contain the remains of American hostages.

Drawing on past experience, the team has participated in search and rescue efforts in Türkiye and Morocco following the two earthquakes that struck those countries in recent years.

One of the sources, a Syrian security source, indicated that the identities of the bodies found so far remain unconfirmed, while the second source added that the duration of the mission remains unclear.

These efforts come as US President Donald Trump prepares for a planned visit next week to Qatar and several other Gulf states.

They also come amid mounting international pressure on the new Syrian administration, a close ally of Qatar and one seeking to lift the economic sanctions imposed by the United States.

The Syrian source said the search priority was in the Dabiq area in northern Syria, where humanitarian worker Peter Kassig was beheaded by ISIS in 2014.

The second source confirmed that the search team hopes to find Kassig’s remains, in addition to the bodies of others.

American journalist James Foley and the Israerli-American journalist Steven Sotloff, were among the Western hostages killed by the extremist group in 2014.

That same year, humanitarian worker Kayla Mueller was killed while in ISIS captivity.

US officials previously confirmed that Mueller was repeatedly raped by the group’s then-leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, and died in 2015.

ISIS was expelled from the areas it controlled in Syria and Iraq thanks to a US-led military operation in cooperation with an international coalition and local forces.