“Fifty-three people picking truffles were killed in an attack by Daesh terrorists southeast of the city of Sokhne in the eastern province of Homs,” Syrian state television in Damascus said. Seven soldiers are believed to be among those killed, according to Palmyra hospital director Walid Audi, quoted by Radio Cham FM.
A report previously released by the NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), based in the UK but with its own network in the country, put the number at 36 dead. But the version of the facts converges: people looking for truffles, that is, mushrooms, specifically in the Palmyra region, near Homs.
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Other pickers managed to escape, according to the OSDH, which says a similar case occurred in the same region a few days ago, last Saturday. According to the NGO, 16 people were killed and about 60 people kidnapped. About 25 were released while the fate of the others is unknown.
According to the NGO, the Islamic State organization, which has multiplied its deadly attacks in recent months despite the loss of its territorial bases in the country and beatings from the Washington-led coalition, is exploiting the fact that residents of remote rural areas in this Part of Syria dare to collect truffles to attack them.
As early as April 2021, at least 19 people, mostly civilians, had been kidnapped by the jihadist group in a central province while engaged in the same activity. As a reminder, since the civil war began in 2011, half a million people have died in Syria, where millions have also been displaced.
With agencies