ISIS kills 31 people collecting truffles in Syrian Desert: report

Beirut, Lebanon: Islamic State group has surfaced in the media again killing 31 people who were collecting truffles in Syria on Sunday, news agency AFP reported.

In a separate incident of violence, the group also killed four shepherds while abducting two others, says the original report by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory reportedly said that a total of 31 people, including 12 pro-regime fighters, were killed while foraging for truffles in the desert east of the central city of Hama.

The latest fatal violence add to the death of at least 26 people that were previously reported by the Observatory.

The authorities frequently warn people against venturing out to collect desert truffles in the high-risk places including Badia which is a known as a hideout for IS jihadists.

Hundreds of people of the impoverished country, torn apart by 12 years of war and subsequent economic crisis, forage for truffles between February and April every year that fetch high prices.

A shocking 230 people have been killed since February after IS targeted truffle hunters or in explosions of landmines left behind by the jihadists.

These deaths include the incident of IS slitting the throats of 15 truffle hunters last month.

More details of the attack on truffle hunters say that IS jihadists on motorcycles shot dead at least 68 people in February.

Syrian Desert Truffles, sort of fungus, is well-known internationally fetching up to $25 per kilo depending on size, according to the report.

IS jihadists attacked shepherds with automatic rifles on Sunday in the eastern region of Dier Ezzor and stole their sheep as well.

Despite losing their last patch of territory to the military campaign by the US in March 2019, IS jihadists continue to operate from some pockets here.

Their multi-pronged targets include civilians, Kurdish-led forces, Syrian government troops, pro-Iranian fighters and Iraq.