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DeirEzzor24 exclusive report:
On days like these every year for the past five years, Deir Ezzor province loses dozens of its people harvesting truffles as a result of mines and deliberate killings that do not distinguish between a man, a woman, and a child.
The most recent of these incidents occurred yesterday in the Kabajib desert, southwest of Deir Ezzor, where two people were killed and 12 cars transporting workers and their belongings were burned, in exchange for an amount of 200,000 per person.
Despite the warnings that accompany this work, some people, especially members of the “Al-Busaraya” clan who live in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor , see the truffle season as an opportunity to make a profit for themselves by collecting truffles whose price ranges between 250 and 500 thousand Syrian pounds per kilo.
The “Shamiya” region, or west of the Euphrates, which extends from Al-Bishri in the west towards the Badia in the east, is known to be one of the richest areas for truffles in Syria. It is also known for the density of its military checkpoints.
However, the region is geographically divided between the Afghan Fatemiyoun militia, and the Al-Quds Brigade militia led by the Cameroonian. There are many minefields and no one is allowed to search for mushrooms except under the supervision of each of them using a lump-sum fee method, while the crop goes to the militia.
While the Assad regime, which is unable to protect the people whose livelihood forces them to do this work, says that these attacks are terrorist acts carried out by Daesh, and promotes its presence in the region for political goals.
The people of Deir Ezzor exchange talk about the Fatemiyoun militias, the Al Quds Liwa, and the military security affiliated with Assad’s forces, that all acts of killing, kidnapping, stealing, and slaughtering livestock are their work, and they confirm that their is coordination between those militias and ISIS, which has a partnership in these crimes committed against the people of Deir Ezzor.