Islamic State attack kills at least 18 Syrian truffle hunters in desert strike
At least 18 Syrian truffle hunters have been killed in an attack carried out by Islamic State militants, opposition activists and pro-government media said.
The attack in a village in eastern Syria also left dozens injured and missing - and was one of the deadliest strikes by the Islamic State in the area in more than a year. It took place in a desert area near the town of Kobajeb in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour which borders Iraq.
Some of the truffle gatherers may have been kidnapped, opposition activists said. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), more than 50 people are missing.
Desert truffles are a considered a delicacy (AFP via Getty Images)Despite the militant group's defeat in Syria in March 2019, IS sleeper cells still carry deadly attacks in Syria and neighboring Iraq, across a wide swath of territory where the extremists had once run an Islamic caliphate. Since truffle hunters work in large groups in remote areas, IS militants in previous years have repeatedly preyed on them, emerging from the desert to kill many and abduct others to be ransomed for money.
Desert truffles - edible fungi growing in arid areas - are a pricey delicacy. They can sell for up to $35 (£27) per kg in Syria, a country where 90 per cent of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line.
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SOHR said four members of the National Defence Forces were among the victims of Wednesday's attack, which was believed to have been carried out with machine guns. Twelve vehicles were torched. According to SOHR statistics, the number of fatalities in military operations in the Syrian desert since early 2024 has increased to 172.
Separately, in Syria's rebel-held northwest, an al-Qaida-linked group released more than 400 detainees from its jails after days of protests demanding their freedom. In February 2023, IS militants killed dozens of civilians and security officers in an attack on truffle hunters in the deserts of central Syria.
In Syria's Idlib province, the recent death of a member of a rebel faction, allegedly while being tortured in a jail run by the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, has sparked days of protests in various parts of the province. Protesters have demanded the release of prisoners, including during a rally Tuesday night at an HTS jail in the town of Daret Azzeh that drew warning gunfire from HTS fighters, further angering protesters. The protesters also have demanded the resignation of HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Golani.
Golani responded with concessions, including the release Wednesday of 420 detainees from HTS jails, according to several opposition activists, including the Observatory. Anti-HTS sentiments had been rising since a wave of arrests by the group of senior officials within the organisation, which was previously known as Nusra Front before changing its name several times and distancing itself from al-Qaida.
In August, the group announced that its co-founder and top official Maysara al-Jubouri, better known as Abu Maria al-Qahtani, was arrested over misuse of social media. Al-Jubouri, an Iraqi citizen, had been a longtime al-Qaida official who fought against US forces in Iraq following the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
In 2011, he was one of several al-Qaida officials who moved to Syria, months after the country's ongoing deadly conflict began. There have been reports that al-Jubouri will be released soon. In the weeks that followed al-Jubouri's arrest, dozens of HTS officials and members of other factions allied with them were detained and allegedly tortured in jails run by al-Golani loyalists for allegedly giving intelligence information to the US-led coalition that has, over the years, killed top al-Qaida commanders in drone strikes in different parts of Syria.
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