At least 18 killed, over 50 missing in suspected IS attack on Syria truffle hunters: Report
File photo of the Syrian desert
Gunmen thought to be linked to the Islamic State group in Syria killed 18 people searching for truffles in the desert Wednesday, a war monitor said.
More than 50 people remained missing after the attack that saw heavy clashes with pro-government forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"Eighteen people were confirmed killed, including four pro-government fighters ... while more than 50 are still missing, after an attack launched by gunmen likely affiliated with IS," it said.
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The jihadists attacked the group with machine guns, said the Britain-based monitoring group with a network of sources inside Syria. The clashes left about a dozen cars burnt, it added.
The Syrian desert is renowned for producing some of the world's best quality truffles, which fetch high prices in a country battered by 13 years of war and a crushing economic crisis.
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Every year between February and April, foragers risk their lives, defying official warnings, to collect the delicacies in the vast northern Syrian desert, or Badia – a known hideout for jihadists that is also littered with landmines.
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Last month, a blast from a landmine left by the IS group killed 14 people foraging for desert truffles, state media said.
IS lost its last scraps of territoryin Syria in March 2019, following a military campaign backed by a US-led coalition, but jihadist remnants continue to hide in the desert and launch deadly attacks.
They have ambushed civilians as well as Kurdish-led forces, Syrian government troops and pro-Iran fighters, while also mounting attacks in neighbouring Iraq.
Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more since it broke out in March 2011 with Damascus's brutal repression of anti-government protests.