BEIRUT: At least 11 people, mostly civilians, were killed in a central Syria attack blamed on the Daesh group, a war monitor said Sunday.
The IS group “attacked about 75 people on Saturday while they were collecting truffles in the Palmyra area, in the eastern countryside of Homs,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The attack killed “10 civilians, including a woman, and a member of the (Syrian) regime forces,” it said, adding that others remain missing.
Syria’s state news agency SANA reported the attack but gave a lower death toll, saying IS “terrorists” fired machine guns and killed four civilians, including a woman.
Ten others were wounded in the attack, some “critically,” the news agency added.
After the jihadists lost their last scraps of territory following a military onslaught backed by a US-led coalition in March 2019, IS remnants in Syria mostly retreated into desert hideouts in the country’s east.
They have since used such hideouts to ambush Kurdish-led forces and Syrian government troops while continuing to mount attacks in Iraq.
Many people, including women and children, have been targeted in recent years while truffle hunting in central, northeastern and eastern areas of Syria.
In April 2021, the extremist group launched a similar attack, abducting 19 people, mostly civilians, in the eastern countryside of the central city of Hama.
Syrian and Russian helicopters continue to launch air strikes targeting IS desert hideouts.
The Syrian conflict, which was triggered by the suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations, has claimed around 500,000 lives and displaced around half the country’s pre-war population.
Daesh attack kills 11 in central Syria
https://arab.news/gvkqq
Daesh attack kills 11 in central Syria
- Several are feared kidnapped
Israeli military kills Palestinian teenager in occupied West Bank
- Israeli settlers in the West Bank also serve in the army, and sometimes carry their weapons with them when off duty
AL-MUGHAYYIR: Israeli forces killed a 14-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, while the military said soldiers had responded to stone throwing.
The Ramallah-based Health Ministry announced the death of 14-year-old Mohammed Al-Nassan by Israeli fire in Al-Mughayyir in a statement on Friday.
Shortly after, Israel’s military said its forces had come to the village after Palestinians “hurled stones toward Israelis, set tires on fire and blocked access routes to the area.”
The military said dozens of Palestinians were throwing stones upon their arrival, including one who posed “an imminent threat.”
“The soldiers responded by firing warning shots into the air, followed by fire to eliminate the terrorist,” the military said, adding it had set up roadblocks in the area to search for another suspect.
Amin Abu Aliya, mayor of Al-Mughayyir, said that the army raided the village when people began to exit mosques after Friday prayers.
“This young man (Nassan) was exiting the mosque where he was praying with the people, the military vehicle stopped in front of the mosque, they opened the back door and started shooting at him directly,” Abu Aliya said.
Abu Aliya added that following the incident, the army introduced a curfew for the village, closing all shops and setting up a new checkpoint at the village’s entrance.
He pointed to the heavy military presence in his village in recent months, which he said often protected Israeli settlers who recently set up nearby outposts and took land from Al-Mughayyir farmers.
In September, a settler who the military said was an off-duty soldier shot and killed a 20-year-old who the army said had thrown stones in Al-Mughayyir.
Israeli settlers in the West Bank also serve in the army, and sometimes carry their weapons with them when off duty.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Violence there has soared since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war and has not subsided despite the truce that came into effect in October.
Since October 2023, Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to Health Ministry figures.
