31 people collecting truffles in Syrian Desert killed by ISIS: Report

Beirut, Lebanon, April 17

Suspected Islamic State group fighters killed at least 31 people foraging for truffles in Syria on Sunday, a monitor said, in the latest such attack in the war-ravaged country.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the killing of four shepherds by IS jihadists in a separate incident, and the abduction of two others.

“A total of 31 people, including 12 pro-regime fighters, were killed while collecting truffles in the desert east of (the central city) Hama,” the Observatory said, giving a new toll.

Earlier it reported the death of at least 26 people, a figure confirmed by the official Syrian news agency SANA.

Syria’s desert truffles fetch high prices in a country battered by 12 years of war and a crushing economic crisis.