News / Syria

Ten killed, nearly two dozens injured as Daesh-planted mines rock central Syria

Monday, 27 February 2023 3:38 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 27 February 2023 3:45 PM ]

An injured person is seen at Salamiyah National Hospital in Hama, central Syria, on February 27, 2023, after a landmine planted by Daesh terrorists exploded and hit truffle-hunters in the area. (Photo by SANA)

At least ten people have lost their lives and nearly two dozen sustained injuries when two landmines exploded in the eastern sector of Syria’s central province of Hama.

Nine citizens were killed and two others injured near Mustariha village, which lies in the Salamiyah district of the province, on Monday, when a landmine planted by Daesh terrorists blew up, the official news agency SANA reported.

Another civilian was killed and 10 others injured when a mine planted by Daesh militants exploded east of Salamiyah.

The blasts hit groups of people hunting in the desert for truffles.

Back on February 18, at least 68 people picking truffles in a desert of neighboring Homs province were killed in a Daesh attack.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at the time that Daesh was taking advantage of the annual harvest of the delicacy, which is in season from February to April and can be sold at exorbitant prices, to carry out attacks in remote locations.

53 killed in Daesh attack near central Syria city: State media

Syrian media say as many as 53 people have been killed in a Daesh ambush near a central Syrian city.

Truffle digging has seen many people, including women and children, lose their lives in Syria’s central, northeastern and eastern regions in recent years.

Explosives left in fields, along roads or even in buildings by Takfiri militant groups have killed hundreds of civilians and wounded thousands more, according to the Observatory.

Across Syria, more than 10 million people live in areas contaminated by explosive hazards, according to the United Nations.

On September 6 last year, four children were killed when a mine and explosives left inside an abandoned apartment went off in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.

Local sources said back then that the brothers were killed instantly by the blasts in the town of Binnish, and their bodies were taken to a nearby morgue.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory also reported that the building where the explosives went off had been used for years by internally displaced families.

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