Six Syrian civilians were killed by a landmine explosion left over from the war while they were searching for “truffle”, in Al-Amour mountain, near Palmyra, in the eastern countryside of Homs.

The official Syrian News Agency, SANA, said: “The six citizens died due to the explosion of an anti-tank mine left by ISIS, while a car carrying a number of people was passing by, who were on their way to collect truffles in Al-Sukhna desert.”

SANA reported that 53 people died on the seventeenth of last February, when they were collecting truffles.

For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented: “184 people were killed while searching for truffles, and they are: 30 security forces and 154 civilians, including two children and five women.”

It stated that dozens were also injured, attributing the cause of the deaths and injuries to the explosion of landmines left over from the war and attacks by ISIS elements targeting seekers of “truffles” since the sixth of last February.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the residents of some Syrian regions are eagerly awaiting the winter season in order to work on collecting the “truffles”, which grow in areas exposed to heavy rains in the depths of the Syrian desert and are sold at rather high prices.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency