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Bedouin communities living in the Syrian desert face increased armed attacks. The violence reaches its peak every year between February and April, the truffle season. When the tribes go out to collect truffles, they run the risk of being ambushed by cells of the self-styled Islamic State, which since 2019 has taken refuge in Badia, a desert that stretches between Syria and Iraq. Exclusive investigation by the France 24 Observers team.
“They drove motorcycles. They came up to us and told us: ‘Get down on the ground!’ They riddled the others. But they told me: ‘Go away!’ I started running in all directions. They told me not to look back,” said a survivor of an attack by the Islamic State group.
On April 16, five collectors were attacked by armed men in the heart of the Syrian desert, the Badia; this desert region represents more than half of the country. The attackers left behind a single survivor to tell of the horrors of the attack.
Many inhabitants risk their lives every year to collect truffles, a lucrative but dangerous business. A kilo of truffles can be sold for 36 euros in Syria, which is twice the minimum wage in a country with an economy devastated by 12 years of war.
The starting point of the investigation, carried out by journalists from Los Observadores, Djamel Belayachi and Mahmoud Naffakh, was the massacre in Al-Sukhnah that occurred on February 17. In said massacre, 46 members of the Beni Khaled tribe were killed during their truffle hunt in Al-Sukhnah.
Behind the scenes
Reviewing Facebook and Telegram pages reporting incidents in Badia, a series of videos were found, each one more terrifying than the last. Truffle hunters have been killed in land mine explosions and executed at point blank range. Every day brings a new discovery of bodies and victims.
The France 24 Observers team obtained exclusive footage filmed by members of the paramilitary forces fighting in the vicinity of the Syrian region, such as the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Liwa al-Quds. The fighters are responsible for escorting the local tribes into the desert for truffle gathering.
These images were compared with eyewitness accounts in the tribes. They have been kept anonymous in our report for their safety. The witnesses live in Deir Ezzor province, controlled by the Syrian regime. They are also vulnerable to retaliation from the Islamic State group, which remains active in the region. The content was also verified with terrorism expert Gregory Waters, who has been documenting attacks in Badia since the Islamic State group first took refuge there.
Our editorial team thanks the residents of Badia, who helped make this program possible, particularly by sharing their contacts and images, and by helping to verify our research.
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