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<\/div>\nThe Syrian desert is famed for its truffles, but has a heavy ISIS presence. (Representational)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Beirut, Lebanon: <\/b><\/p>\n
Suspected Islamic State group fighters killed at least 26 people Sunday in Syria, a war monitor said, the latest in a spate of attacks targeting people foraging for desert truffles in the impoverished war-ravaged country.<\/p>\n
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “civilians and at least 10 pro-regime fighters” were among “the 26 people killed in an attack by Islamic State fighters while they were collecting truffles in the desert east of (the central city of) Hama”.<\/p>\n
Syria’s desert truffles fetch high prices in a country battered by 12 years of war and a crushing economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Between February and April each year, hundreds of impoverished Syrians search for truffles in the vast Syrian desert, or Badia — a known hideout for jihadists that is also littered with landmines.<\/p>\n
Since February, more than 200 people — most of them civilians — have been killed in IS attacks targeting truffle hunters or by landmines left by the extremists, according to the Observatory.<\/p>\n
The victims included 15 people foraging for truffles who had their throats slit by IS last month.<\/p>\n
In February, IS fighters on motorcycles opened fire on truffle hunters and killed at least 68 people, the war monitor said at the time.<\/p>\n
The Syrian desert is renowned for producing some of the best quality truffles in the world.<\/p>\n
The prized fungus can sell for up to $25 per kilo (2.2 pounds) depending on size and grade — in a country where the average monthly wage is around $18.<\/p>\n
Separately on Sunday, suspected IS jihadists killed four shepherds in the eastern Syrian region of Deir Ezzor, said the Observatory that relies on a wide network of sources on the ground.<\/p>\n
The jihadists, who carried automatic rifles and rode motorbikes, also stole the sheep before fleeing, the monitor added.<\/p>\n
In March 2019, IS lost its last scraps of territory in Syria following a military campaign backed by a US-led coalition, but jihadist remnants continue to hide in the desert and launch deadly attacks.<\/p>\n
They have used such hideouts to ambush civilians, Kurdish-led forces, Syrian government troops and pro-Iranian fighters, while also mounting attacks in neighbouring Iraq.<\/p>\n
Syria’s war has claimed the lives of around half a million people and displaced millions since it erupted in March 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.<\/p>\n
Remnants of explosives laid by all sides in the conflict are now claiming more lives in Syria than anywhere else in the world, says the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Since 2015, landmines and other explosive remnants have on average killed or injured five people every day, according to UN data.<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n