Mission to Find Remains of American Hostages Killed by ISIS Commences

A search team from Qatar, with the facilitation of U.S. representatives, and with the intent of recovering the remains of American hostages killed by ISIS a decade ago, has initiated excavations in Syria.

This mission, which commenced on Wednesday, has so far unearthed three corpses, all of which are unidentified. The Qatari unit is comprised of an international rescue team that has been searching for victims in earthquake disaster areas, and it is not presently clear how long the search will continue.

The objective of the mission is to find aid worker Peter Kassig who was beheaded by ISIS in 2014 in Dabiq, northern Syria. The mission also hopes to locate journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, who were killed in 2014, and Kayla Mueller, who died in 2015 after reportedly being abused by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Families are waiting for forensic verification of the remains.

The family of the hostages expressed gratitude to the various teams involved in the recovery effort. Diane Foley, mother to James Foley, recognized the inherent risks in recovering the bodies. The Kassig family also stressed how important it is to return the remains to those who loved them, and referred to the mission as a "solemn effort."

The timing of this operation overlaps with President Donald Trump's upcoming trip to Qatar and Gulf allies while the Syria's Qatari-supported government seeks sanctions relief. The talks surrounding the operation occurred when some Qatari officials visited Washington D.C., in April, and represented the beginning of updated foreign policy and diplomatic efforts.