“Three members of the National Defense Forces [NDF] were killed and four others injured as a result of an explosion of a landmine planted by ISIS members … in the western desert countryside of Deir ez-Zor,” reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based war monitor.
A separate ISIS attack killed four NDF members while they were hunting for truffles in the central Hama province on Sunday, SOHR said. Their bodies were found a day after.
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 desert between February and April each year in search of truffles, despite repeated warnings from authorities.
The Syrian desert is known to be a hideout for jihadists and to be dotted with countless landmines, making it a high-risk area to search for the delicacy. Nevertheless, it is known for producing some of the highest quality truffles in the world that can be sold for up to $25 per kilogram, in a country where the average monthly wage is only around $18.
ISIS attacks have been on the rise in Syria, particularly in the vast expanses of its eastern and northern deserts where the group launches surprise attacks amid a security vacuum.
On Monday, five Syrian government soldiers were killed in an ISIS attack in Homs province, according to SOHR.
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.
