Syrian state TV announced on Friday (17) that at least 53 people were killed in an attack attributed to the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in the central region of the country.
“Fifty-three truffle harvesters were killed in an attack by Daesh terrorists [acrônimo em árabe do EI] southeast of the town of Sojné, in eastern Homs province,” according to the report.
Palmyra hospital director Walid Audi reported that 46 civilians and seven soldiers were killed.
The victims’ bodies were “taken to the hospital after the ambush”, he added, speaking to pro-government radio Sham FM.
The OSDH (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights), an NGO based in London, had previously reported a toll of 36 dead.
In recent years, several people, including women and children, have been attacked in different parts of Syria while hunting for truffles. The food, also known as the sand truffle, is usually collected between February and April and sold at sky-high prices.
After the jihadists lost their last hold in Syria in March 2019 following a US-led military campaign, many members of the Islamic State group in the country have taken refuge in desert areas.
Since then, they have used these hideouts to ambush Kurdish forces and Syrian troops, as well as to plan attacks in neighboring Iraq. Russian and Syrian helicopters continue to regularly target IS jihadists in desert areas.