14 Syrian truffle pickers killed in IS landmine in Syrian desert: SANA
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Syria's official news agency SANA says a landmine left by IS terrorists exploded while the citizens were collecting truffles in the Raqa desert.
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A customer buys a desert truffle from a merchant in a market in Syria's northern city of Raqa on March 14, 2023. (Photo by Delil souleiman / AFP)
A blast Sunday from a landmine left by the Islamic State (IS) group killed 14 people foraging for truffles in the Syrian desert, state media reported.
"Fourteen citizens were killed and eight others injured after a landmine left by IS terrorists exploded while they were collecting truffles in the Raqa desert," Syria's official news agency SANA mentioned.
The Syrian desert is renowned for producing some of the best quality truffles in the world, which fetch high prices in a country battered by 13 years of war and a crushing economic crisis due to US-led sanctions.
On Saturday, SANA also reported that five Syrian civilians were martyred in an IS terrorist attack in the eastern countryside of Homs.
The civilians were shot dead by IS terrorists on motorcycles while picking truffles in the Jubb al-Jarrah area, the news agency said, citing a source in the Homs police.
Earlier on Sunday, the Syrian Ministry of Defense released footage of a number of "top-tier and concentrated operations" conducted against terrorist organizations, in the countryside of Idlib and Lattakia.
These operations came in response to several continued breaches and violations attributed to militant terror groups in the aforementioned regions.
Anti-armor units of the Syrian Arab Army are seen launching a number of anti-tank guided missiles at a number of positions directly targeting militants and their vehicles, as well as barricaded positions that they had set up.
#وزارة_الدفاع تنشر مشاهد من عمليات نوعية مركزة نفذتها وحدات من قواتنا المسلحة ضد نقاط الإرهابيين وتحصيناتهم في ريفي إدلب واللاذقية الشمالي pic.twitter.com/tZwvUlwPQI
— الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء - سانا (@SanaAjel) February 25, 2024
The footage also shows the targeting of a tower used by militants as an observation and monitoring post.
In a separate statement, the Syrian Ministry of Defense said that its forces downed and destroyed a total of seven unmanned aerial vehicles, including reconnaissance drones and suicide drones, in the countryside of Idlib and Hama.
وزارة الدفاع: تمكنت قواتنا العاملة على اتجاه ريفي #حماة و #إدلب من إسقاط وتدمير سبع طائرات مسيرة للإر/ه/ابيين حاولت الاعــ. . . ــتداء على نقاطنا العسكرية والقرى والبلدات الآمنة في المناطق المحيطة
— الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء - سانا (@SanaAjel) February 25, 2024
لمتابعة أخبار #سانا على تلغرام👇https://t.co/5w1wBYvspS pic.twitter.com/Q47XgfIvMn
The Ministry explained that terror groups have launched several recent attacks on Syrian towns and villages, adding that its operations come in response to these attacks. The Syrian military's response led to the killing of dozens of terrorists and wounded a number of others.
Read more: ISIS used mustard agent in 2015 shelling of Syrian town of Marea: OPCW
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
