At least 53 people were killed this Friday (17) in an attack attributed to the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in central Syria, state television said.
“Fiftythree people harvesting truffles were killed in an attack by Daesh terrorists (Arabic acronym for IS) in the southeast of the city of Sojné in the eastern province of Homs,” the report said.
Palmyra Hospital Director Walid Audi reported that 46 civilians and 7 soldiers were killed.
The bodies of the victims “were taken to hospital after the ambush,” he added, speaking to progovernment radio Sham FM.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), a Londonbased NGO, had previously reported a death toll of 36.
In recent years, several people, including women and children, have been attacked in different parts of Syria while searching for truffles.
The desert truffle or sand truffle is usually collected between February and April and sold at skyhigh prices.
Sixteen people, mostly civilians, were killed in a similar attack in the same area on Saturday, OSDH said.
After the jihadists lost their last foothold after a USled military action in March 2019, many members of the Islamic State group in Syria fled to desert areas.
They have since used these hideouts to ambush Kurdish forces and Syrian troops and plan attacks in neighboring Iraq.
Russian and Syrian helicopters continue to regularly attack IS jihadists in desert areas