RAQQA, Syria: The neighbors reported a foul smell coming from the house next door. The house, which the Daesh group had used as a school for its “cubs,” had been untouched ever since the militants were chased out of the Syrian city two years ago. Weeds grew around an abandoned car in its courtyard.
Even before the first responders felt the soft ground of the courtyard, they knew what was underneath: the latest mass grave in Raqqa, the former capital of the Daesh group’s self-declared “caliphate.”
On the first day of digging, they pulled out two bodies. Within a few days, that was up to nearly 20, including women and children, who had been stacked up in holes in the courtyard garden.
The discovery, seen by Associated Press journalists over the weekend, was the 16th mass grave found in Raqqa since Daesh militants were driven out in the summer of 2017. Even as Raqqa’s people gradually rebuild, the graves found in houses, parks, destroyed buildings are a grim reminder of the horrors perpetrated by the militants and the massive violence inflicted on the city to remove them.
During their rule, the extremists carried out mass killings, public beheadings and other atrocities. Women and men accused of adultery were stoned to death, while men believed to be gay were thrown from the tops of buildings and then pelted with stones.
More death came in the years-long aerial and ground campaign to liberate Raqqa, waged by Kurdish-led forces backed by airstrikes from the US-led coalition. The assault destroyed nearly 80% of Raqqa.
So far, 5,218 bodies have been exhumed from mass graves or from under the ruins of destroyed buildings around Raqqa, said Yasser Khamis, who leads the team of first responders. Of those, around 1,400 were Daesh fighters, distinguishable by their clothes and including some foreigners, he said. Of the remainder, 700 have been identified by their loved ones, mainly because they were the ones who buried the bodies.
Khamis said limited resources have slowed the search and made it difficult to determine the cause of death for most. But those killed have died in airstrikes, land mine explosions, mass killings or they were Daesh fighters or victims buried by the group. Some were recently exhumed with handcuffs.
The dead found in the latest grave were likely killed in the last days of the furious battles for Raqqa, buried in a rush during the fighting. The house is located in Raqqa’s Bedouin District, scene of one of the last Daesh stands against the siege.
The house was built in a traditional Arab style, with a courtyard in the center surrounded by rooms. The outside walls were pockmarked with bullet holes. Daesh had used it as a school during its rule, and school notebooks and children desks were strewn around the rooms.
In the garden in the courtyard, diggers pulled a new body from the ground Saturday as an AP team visited the site. It had a uniform on it, sign of an Daesh fighter. Digging ended Monday, with a total of 19 bodies found, including three women and two children.
Ibrahim Al-Mayel, a digger, said many of the bodies they had found had been piled roughly on top of each other in the ground.
Such house burials account for most of the city’s mass graves as civilians buried their dead where they could, unable to go far as fighting intensified. Other graves in the same district — two in homes, two in gardens — have yielded 90 bodies.
At least two mass graves have been found in open areas in the city — a public park and a training compound— or on the city’s edges, where fighters buried their own or people they killed. The grave in the park held at least 1,400 bodies, according to Khamis. His teams are still digging up bodies in a mass grave outside the city, where they found more than 700 so far.
“I expect that this Arab house is the last location within the city. We will then focus on the countryside,” Khamis said of the latest discovery.
Raqqa was the seat of the militant’s self-proclaimed caliphate, which at its height in 2014 stretched across a third of both Syria and Iraq. This year, the last village held by the group was retaken, in eastern Syria, though the militants are still present along the border and stage attacks.
In Syria’s 8-year-old civil war, more than 100,000 people have been detained, abducted or gone missing, according to the UN, most of them disappeared by the government. Tens of thousands have likely vanished into mass graves, many of them victims of IS. Khamis said his team has recorded 2,000 people missing from Raqqa, based on family reports. But he said the number doesn’t reflect the full reality, since many families gave up on their missing, couldn’t reach Khamis’ team or moved to other areas.
His team only began collecting samples from bodies three months ago, hoping that new training and DNA technology would be available to help identify them. That means only 1,600 bodies of the 5,200 found had samples taken from them before reburial. “We need a lot more,” he said.
In his offices in Raqqa, plastic bags carrying bone, teeth or hair samples were labelled and identified by location and number. International human rights groups say they are concerned local forensic groups are not getting the support, expertise and resources they need. Identifying the missing and preserving evidence for possible prosecutions is critical for Syria’s future, they say.
“The worst thing I saw in my life at these graves is a man who comes looking for his child and can’t find him,” said Hwaidi Munawakh, one of the gravediggers.
He has worked on nine of Raqqa’s mass graves. From one of them, he pulled out one of his cousins, a woman killed in an airstrike during the final battle for the city.
Syria’s Raqqa still finding the dead, 2 years after Daesh fall
Syria’s Raqqa still finding the dead, 2 years after Daesh fall

- The dead found in the latest grave were likely killed in the last days of the furious battles for Raqqa, buried in a rush during the fighting
- In Syria’s 8-year-old civil war, more than 100,000 people have been detained, abducted or gone missing, according to the UN, most of them disappeared by the government
Trump says had advance notice of Israeli strikes on Iran: Fox News

- Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Thursday that the United States was “not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region”
Washington: US President Donald Trump told Fox News he was aware Israel was going to conduct strikes on Iran before it happened, and stressed that Tehran “cannot have a nuclear bomb,” according to the US broadcaster.
His comments to Fox came after Israel pounded Iran in a series of air raids on Friday, striking 100 targets including nuclear and military sites.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation took aim at the atomic facility in Natanz, while Iranian media said the country’s Revolutionary Guards leader Hossein Salami and armed forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri were killed.
Trump told Fox News that he was made aware of Israel’s operation before it happened.
“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see,” Trump said, according to Fox News.
Fox News also reported that “Trump noted the US is ready to defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates.”
It added that Trump’s administration reached out to at least one key Middle Eastern ally to acknowledge that the strike was going to happen, but reiterated that the US was not involved.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier Thursday that the United States was “not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.”
“Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”
Trump will be attending a National Security Council meeting Friday morning.
Jordan closes airspace, says it won’t be battleground for any conflict

DUBAI: Jordan has not and will not allow any violation of its airspace, nor will it be a battleground for any conflict, a senior minister said in a statement on Friday.
“Jordan’s national security is a red line, and the Kingdom will not allow any attempt to threaten its security and the safety of its citizens,” Mohammad Momani, Minister of Government Communication and Government Spokesperson added.
Royal Jordanian Air Force aircraft and air defense systems intercepted a number of missiles and drones that entered Jordanian airspace Friday morning, a report from state news agency Petra stated.
The interception operation came in response to military assessments that missiles and drones were bound to fall into Jordanian territory, including populated areas, which could cause casualties, Petra added.
Momani also urged the international community to exercise pressure in order to restore calm and prevent further escalation in the region.
Jordan’s aviation authority closed the country’s airspace and grounded all flights after Israel attacked Iran.
“The Kingdom’s airspace is temporarily closed, and air traffic suspended for all aircraft – incoming, outgoing and in transit, as a precaution against any risks resulting from the regional escalation,” the authority said in a statement.
The country’s armed forces were also placed on high alert in response to growing regional tensions, a military source said.
The General Command was closely monitoring developments in the region and that the armed forces were at the highest levels of operational and logistical readiness to respond any potential emergencies, the Petra report noted.
After Israel strikes Iran, airlines divert flights, airspace closed

- Iranian airspace has been closed until further notice, state media reported
- Six commercial aircraft have been shot down unintentionally and three nearly missed since 2001, according to aviation risk consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions
SEOUL: Airlines cleared out of the airspace over Israel, Iran and Iraq early on Friday after Israel launched attacks on targets in Iran, Flightradar24 data showed, with carriers scrambling to divert and cancel flights to keep passengers and crew safe.
Proliferating conflict zones around the world are becoming an increasing burden on airline operations and profitability, and more of a safety concern.
Six commercial aircraft have been shot down unintentionally and three nearly missed since 2001, according to aviation risk consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions.
Israel on Friday said it targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed until further notice, and Israel’s air defense units stood at high alert for possible retaliatory strikes from Iran.
Israeli flag carrier El Al Airlines said it had suspended flights to and from Israel.
Iranian airspace has been closed until further notice, state media reported.
Jordan also closed its airspace to all flights.
Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport said on its social media account that flight disruptions were expected and passengers were ‘advised to check with their airline for the latest status of their flights before travelling to the airport.’
Dubai’s Emirates Airline cancelled its Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran flights on Friday. Qatar Airways also cancelled flights to and from Iraq and Iran.
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi also cancelled a number of flights on Friday that were scheduled to fly over areas affected by regional tensions in the Middle East.
As reports of strikes on Iran emerged, a number of commercial flights by airlines including Emirates, Lufthansa and Air India were flying over Iran.
Emirates, Lufthansa and Air India did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iraq early on Friday closed its airspace and suspended all traffic at its airports, Iraqi state media reported.
Eastern Iraq near the border with Iran contains one of the world’s busiest air corridors, with dozens of flights crossing between Europe and the Gulf, many on routes from Asia to Europe, at any one moment.
Flights steadily diverted over Central Asia or Saudi Arabia, flight tracking data showed.
“The situation is still emerging — operators should use a high degree of caution in the region at this time,” according to Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information.
Several flights due to land in Dubai were diverted early on Friday. An Emirates flight from Manchester to Dubai was diverted to Istanbul and a flydubai flight from Belgrade diverted to Yerevan, Armenia.
Budget carrier flydubai said it had suspended flights to Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Iran and Israel and a number of other flights had been canceled, rerouted or returned to their departure airports.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East since October 2023 led to commercial aviation sharing the skies with short-notice barrages of drones and missiles across major flight paths – some of which were reportedly close enough to be seen by pilots and passengers.
Last year, planes were shot down by weaponry in Kazakhstan and in Sudan. These incidents followed the high-profile downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 and of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 en route from Tehran in 2020.
Iran’s Khamenei warns Israel faces ‘bitter and painful fate’

- Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami was killed in the Israeli military operation
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that Israel will face “severe punishment” over its attack on the country.
Khamenei issued a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. It also confirmed that top military officials and scientists had been killed in the attack.
Israel “opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to commit a crime against our beloved country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers,” Khamenei said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami was killed in the Israeli military operation. He was a veteran officer close to the supreme leader and known for his tirades against Israel and its US ally.
“If you make the slightest mistake, we will open the gates of hell for you,” the white-bearded general warned Tehran’s arch foes during a tour of an underground missile base in January.
An Israeli military official said that the Israeli Air Force targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites, without identifying them.
Israel for years has warned it will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, something Tehran insists it does not want – though officials there have repeatedly warned it could.
UN nuclear watchdog says ‘closely monitoring’ situation after Israel strikes Iran

VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog confirmed Friday that Israeli strikes were targeting an Iranian uranium enrichment site, saying it was “closely monitoring the deeply concerning situation.”
“The IAEA is closely monitoring the deeply concerning situation in Iran. Agency can confirm Natanz site among targets,” International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said in a post on the agency’s X feed, as the IAEA’s board of governors meets this week in Vienna.
“The agency is in contact with Iranian authorities regarding radiation levels. We are also in contact with our inspectors in the country,” he added.