“18 people were killed, including four National Defense Forces [NDF] members. 16 others were injured, and more than 50 missing in an attack launched by gunmen, likely affiliated with the Islamic State” in the desert regions of Deir ez-Zor while they were collecting truffles, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor.
“Major” injuries to civilians were also inflicted in the ISIS ambush, the monitor said.
The NDF is a pro-government militia that has fought alongside President Bashar al-Assad since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.
Hundreds of poverty-stricken Syrians venture into the Badia desert between February and April each year in search of truffles, despite repeated warnings from authorities. The desert is known to be a hideout for jihadists and also contains landmines, making it a high-risk area to search for the delicacy.
The Syrian desert is known for producing some of the highest quality truffles in the world, which can fetch up to $25 per kilogram, in a country where the average monthly wage is only around $18.
In late February, an ISIS landmine in the Syrian desert killed at least 14 truffle hunters and injured eight.
Days prior, at least five people were killed in an ISIS ambush while truffle hunting in Syria’s central Homs province.
ISIS rose to power and seized swathes of Iraqi and Syrian land in a brazen offensive in 2014, declaring a so-called “caliphate.”
While the group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 and 2019 respectively, it still continues to pose serious security risks through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, especially across the vast expanses of the Syrian desert as well as several Iraqi provinces.
At least 34 NDF fighters and Syrian army soldiers were killed in an ISIS attack in the Syrian desert in November.
