ISIS militants kill 18 villagers in eastern Syria

IDLIB, Syria — Islamic State militants attacked villagers collecting truffles in eastern Syria on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and leaving dozens injured and missing, opposition activists and progovernment media said.

The attack against the truffle hunters was one of the deadliest strikes by the Islamic State group in the area in more than a year. It took place in a desert area near the town of Kobajeb in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq.

Some of the truffle gatherers may have been kidnapped, opposition activists said.

Despite the militant group’s defeat in Syria in March 2019, its sleeper cells still carry deadly attacks in Syria and neighboring Iraq, across a wide swath of territory where the extremists had once run an Islamic caliphate.

Since truffle hunters work in large groups in remote areas, ISIS militants in previous years have repeatedly preyed on them, emerging from the desert to kill many and abduct others to be ransomed for money.