The remains of 30 people believed to have been killed by the Islamic State (IS) group have been found in a remote Syrian town during operations carried out by search teams from Qatar and the FBI, according to a statement from Qatari authorities.
Qatar's Internal Security Service said the search warrant was requested by the FBI and DNA tests were being conducted to identify the individuals found.
Scores of foreigners, including aid workers and journalists, have fallen victim to ISIS militants, who have controlled vast swathes of Syria and Iraq for five years, declaring a so-called caliphate.
The Islamist group lost most of its lands in late 2017 and was officially declared defeated in 2019.
Since then, dozens of burial sites and mass graves have been found in northern Syria containing the remains and bodies of people abducted by ISIS over the years.
Among the victims of ISIS were American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as humanitarian workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.
British correspondent John Cantlie was kidnapped along with Mr Foley in 2012 and was last seen alive in one of the extremist group's propaganda videos in 2016.
The search was carried out in the Dabiq area, located near Syria's northern border with Turkey.
Mass graves have also been found in regions formerly under the control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in a swift uprising last December, ending his family's half-century of rule.
Over the years, the Assads have used their notorious security and intelligence services to suppress dissent, many of whom have disappeared.
More than 130,000 Syrians have been kidnapped and disappeared in 2021, according to the UN, in an uprising that began in 2011 and has escalated into a 13-year civil war.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
