Old ordnance explosions | Women among six people killed and wounded in a week, while collecting truffle in the Syrian desert

Syrian Observatory activists have documented the death of a civilian and his grandfather as well as serious injuries to three women due to the explosion of an old landmine, while collecting truffle in the area of Khanaser desert in the southern countryside of Aleppo.

 

Accordingly, the number of fatalities jumps to three people, all killed in landmine explosions while collecting truffle in the Syrian desert in less than a week.

 

On February 10, SOHR activists documented the death of a civilian in landmine explosion, while searching for truffle in Wadi Al-Azaib area in the east of Al-Sa’an town in the eastern countryside of Hama.

 

It is worth noting that many people turn to search for and collect truffle, although it is found in the dangerous places in the Syrian desert, where old landmines and unexploded ordnance are widely prevalent.

 

Syrian Observatory activists have documented the death of 433 people, including 71 women and 143 children, by mines and IED explosions and the collapse of cracked residential buildings in several areas of the Syrian territory in Homs, Hama, Deir Ezzor, Aleppo and the Syrian South since early January 2019.

 

Among the total death toll, there are 47 persons, including 30 women and five children, who were killed during their search and collection of the truffle which grows in the areas that is subjected to heavy rain, and it is sold at very high prices.