53 killed in Daesh attack near central Syria city — state media

AMMAN — At least 53 people were killed Friday by a Takfiri Daesh terrorist attack in the town of Al-Sokhna, located in the desert of Al-Badieh, in the province of Homs, 250km northeast of Syria´s capital, state media reported.اضافة اعلان

The victims included 46 civilians and seven soldiers, said Dr Walid Audi, director of the General Authority of Palmyra National Hospital, according to AFP.

The medical official said the bodies had "been brought to the hospital after the ambush" that targeted dozens.

Five people who were wounded were transferred to another hospital. One of the survivors told SANA that Daesh extremists had burned their cars.

Deadliest since January 2022The UK-based so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor, identified those who carried out the attack as terrorists riding motorbikes, who started shooting at the truffle hunters.

The attack marks the deadliest by the group since January 2022 when its fighters stormed a prison in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Hassakeh in a bid to free other Deash members.

More recently, Daesh killed at least 11 people, mostly civilians, in a central Syria attack while they were collecting truffles in the Palmyra area, the observatory reported last Sunday.

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported the attack but gave a lower death toll, saying Daesh terrorists fired machine guns and killed four civilians, including a woman.

Hit-and-runThe group once controlled vast swathes of territory in Syria but lost its hold on land in separate offensives by US-backed fighters, Syrian government forces backed by Russia, regional fighters, and Turkish-backed rebels.

Now, Daesh uses sleeper cells to wage hit-and-run attacks in Syria.

Many people, including women and children, have been targeted in recent years while truffle hunting in central, northeastern and eastern areas of Syria.

Separately on Friday, the US Central Command said four US military personnel were injured in a blast during a raid that killed a senior Daesh leader in Syria, identified as Hamza Al-Homsi.