(ANSAMed) - BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 17 - At least 53 civilians have been killed in an attack attributed to Isis in central Syria, according to reports from the National Observatory for Human Rights in Syria.
The attack took place near Sokhne, near the city of Palmyra in central Syria.
According to the Observatory, of the 53 victims, 7 are government soldiers, including an officer of the Damascus army.
The other 46 are civilians from the Sukhne area.
The Observatory specifies that in that area there is a military base of the pro-Iranian Iraqi militias, allies of the government.
And there is also a natural gas extraction site controlled by pro-Tehran forces.
The jihadist group "today killed 53 people who were picking truffles in Sokhne, in the Palmyra region, in the countryside near Homs", said the London-based NGO.
A few days ago, last Saturday, there was a similar attack in the same region where 16 people were killed.
Also in this case, the victims were collecting truffles, the NGO specified, adding that on that occasion about sixty people were also kidnapped, 25 of whom were later released today, while the fate of the others still remains unknown.
According to the Osdh, the Isis takes advantage of the fact that the inhabitants of remote rural areas venture to collect truffles to attack them.
In recent months, Isis has intensified its attacks, despite the loss of its strongholds in Syria and the blows inflicted on it by the international anti-jihadist coalition led by the United States.
(ANSAMed).