According to the official news agency Sana, nine civilians were killed and two others injured when an anti-personnel mine exploded in the central Syrian desert on Monday.
“Nine citizens were killed and two others wounded in the village of Al-Mustariha east of Salamiya” in Hama province (centre) after “a mine explosion by Daesh (Arabic acronym for the jihadist group Islamic State) terrorists. Red.) left behind,” the agency reported.
According to Sana, the victims were in a car when the explosion happened.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), a UK-based NGO with an extensive network of sources in Syria, said the mine detonated while victims were searching for truffles.
This incident comes nearly ten days after an attack attributed to Islamic State that killed 68 people from a group of people who also harvest truffles, according to the OSDH.
According to the Observatory, IS is exploiting the fact that people from remote rural areas are venturing into the desert to collect truffles to attack them. The desert truffle or sand truffle is generally picked between February and April and sold for gold.
Nearly 10.2 million Syrians live in areas contaminated by explosive devices that killed around 15,000 people between 2015 and 2022, according to the UN.
Mine action is a difficult task in a country plagued by conflict since 2011 that has claimed half a million lives and displaced millions of residents.
They were laid, without being mapped by the various warring factions, in the midst of agricultural land and residential areas.
Almost daily, the Syrian authorities announce controlled explosions to destroy explosive devices, ammunition and other anti-personnel mines left on the territory.