A monitoring group reports that suspected gunmen from the Islamic State (IS) group have killed at least 18 people who were searching for truffles in the Syrian desert.

The incident occurred in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, with more than 50 individuals still missing following the attack, as per the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

According to accounts from various sources, the death toll varies: Pro-Syrian government Al-Mayadeen TV indicates at least 47 fatalities, while the Kurdish North Press news agency states that around 40 individuals, including women and children, lost their lives.

In the past year, numerous Syrian truffle hunters fell victim to gun attacks, with IS widely suspected though the group never claimed responsibility.

Desert truffles, a sought-after delicacy that thrives in arid regions, can fetch prices of up to $35 (£27) per kg in Syria, where the minimum monthly wage hovers around $14 (£11) and approximately 90% of the population lives below the poverty line.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 18 individuals, including four members of a pro-government paramilitary National Defence Forces (NDF), were killed in the attack on Wednesday.

Gunmen believed to be affiliated with IS, opened fire on the group of truffle hunters in Kobajib, a desert area in the southern part of Deir al-Zour province, sparking clashes between the gunmen and NDF fighters who oversee truffle hunting in the region. The confrontation destroyed 12 vehicles.

North Press, which operates in Kurdish-controlled north-eastern Syria, cited relatives of several truffle hunters and medical sources as saying that 40 civilians were killed along with four NDF fighters.

The report also said the attack was believed to have been carried out by IS, though there was no immediate claim from the group.

IS once held 88,000 sq km (34,000 sq miles) of territory stretching from western Syria to eastern Iraq and imposed its brutal rule on almost eight million people.

Despite the group's military defeat in Syria in 2019, the UN has warned that the threat posed by IS and its affiliates remains high.

A report in January estimated that IS had between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, and noted that attacks had intensified in Syria since November.

Syria's central Badia desert served as a "logistics and operations hub", with between 500 and 600 fighters forming a triangle linking the provinces of Deir al-Zour in the east, Suweida in the south, and Homs in the west, it said.

Too bad