Mass grave of suspected ISIS victims including children found in Syria

A mass grave of suspected victims of ISIS that includes two children has been discovered by Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

“At least 29 bodies, including those of a woman and two children, have been found in a mass grave” near a hotel in Manbij, said an official with the Kurdish-affiliated Manbij civilian council, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

ISIS had turned the hotel into a prison when it ruled the northern city between 2014 and 2016. The Syrian Democratic Forces, a largely Kurdish militia backed by the West, pushed ISIS out of Manbij in August 2016.

Syrian shepherds herd sheep past a US military convoy near the town of Tal Tamr in the northeastern Syrian Hasakeh province, by the border with Turkey, on April 14. Delil Souleiman / AFP

Smoke rises behind destroyed vehicles and damaged buildings in the village of Baghouz in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor province near the Iraqi border, a day after ISIS was declared defeated by the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), March 24, 2019. Giuseppe Cacace/ AFP

Children cross the road as cars drive by in the northern Syrian city of Raqa, the former Syrian capital of ISIS, on May 1, 2019. - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces overran Raqa in 2017, after years of what residents described as ISIS's brutal rule, which included public beheading and crucifixions. Delil souleiman / AFP

The Rapid Response Division of the Raqa civil defence excavate the site of a mass grave near the northern Syrian city of Raqa on February 19, 2019. Fadel Senna / AFP

The mass grave was unearthed on Wednesday by municipal workers who were doing work on the sewage system, the Manbij military council said.

Some of the victims appeared to have been handcuffed and blindfolded, it said.

The military council said it was unclear when they were killed, but that it had occurred when ISIS ruled Manbij.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the remains are believed to belong to people abducted by ISIS fighters.

Dozens of mass graves have been found in Iraq and Syria but the identification process is slow, costly and complicated.

ISIS seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, declaring a “caliphate” and killing thousands before the intervention of a US-led coalition in support of Iraqi forces and Syrian-Kurdish militias helped defeat the group.

One of the biggest reported ISIS mass graves contained 200 bodies and was discovered in 2019 near Raqqa, the group's former de facto capital in Syria.

Rights groups have repeatedly called on Kurdish authorities and the Syrian government to investigate the fate of thousands who went missing during ISIS rule.

The missing include British reporter John Cantlie and Italian Jesuit priest Paolo Dall'Oglio.

Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011 after a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests, has killed nearly half a million people and forced about half of the country's pre-war population from their homes.

THE BIO

Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.

Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.

Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.

Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.

ENGLAND TEAM

England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative

Six large-scale objects on show

Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
The 17^th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
Torrijos Palace dome

Remaining fixtures

August 29 – UAE v Saudi Arabia, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
September 5 – Iraq v UAE, Amman, Jordan (venue TBC)

Mountain%20Boy

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Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”