The search for truffles for the inhabitants of eastern Syria is no longer, as before, an entertainment journey to make money, as today it involves risks that reach the point of death to reach this distinctive fruit that grows along the Syrian desert in the countryside of Homs, Hama, Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, which has an area of ​​75 thousand square kilometers.

After collecting truffles was available to the inhabitants of the Badia and its adjacent cities and towns, usually accompanied by the fall of rain every spring, this weather was affected by the struggle for military influence between the warring parties in this torn country, and the search required security approvals from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad or the forces of "Syria." Democracy. "

However, these approvals do not protect the owner from death by landmines or being liquidated, or stealing money and truffles at best.

The search for truffles has become limited by conditions and dates, amidst the threat of violators with severe penalties (European)

Death journey

With the advent of the spring season, Abdulaziz Al-Hussein from the countryside of Deir Ezzor (east) is preparing to go on a trip to search for truffles, accompanied by his cousins, in the Jabal Al-Bishri area in the Badia.

Al-Hussein (28 years) says that the search for truffles in the desert is a great risk of life, and it is like a journey of death, as many civilians lost their lives without knowing who was liquidating them in the depths of the desert, and returned lifeless bodies.

He added - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that armed elements are lying in wait for civilians looking for truffles and chasing after them and killing them, before they rob them of the truffles and the money they get from selling their crops to the region's merchants, stressing that 5 of his village were shot dead last year while collecting truffles in the Badia Deer Al Zour.

Under the best of circumstances, armed elements of the Russian-backed Fifth Corps, according to Al-Hussein, force the truffle collectors to sell them to them at low prices that do not exceed two thousand pounds per kilo under threat of weapons, in order to sell them to merchants at multiple times.

The price of a kilo of truffles - according to their quality, size and taste - ranges between 15 and 70 thousand pounds (the price of the dollar in official bank transactions is 1250 pounds for purchase and 1262 pounds for sale) according to Deir Ezzor markets, where prices rose due to the collapse of the lira's values ​​and the difficulty of obtaining them.

Security clearances do not protect against death by mines (Reuters)

Royalties and terms

In the eastern countryside of Homs, which is controlled by the Assad regime, the search for truffles has become limited to conditions and dates, amid the threat of violators with severe penalties, especially with the onset of their growing season associated with rain and thunderstorms.

According to the local Ain Al-Furat network, the leadership of both the regime's fourth division loyal to Iran, and the Russian-backed Fifth Corps, have informed the checkpoints in Palmyra and Sokhna of the need to control the demand of the people to collect truffles within times ranging from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.

She points out that the royalties imposed by these forces amount to 40% of the quantities of truffles collected by workers in the eastern countryside of Homs, which is famous for the quality of the types of truffles such as Zubaidi, which is distinguished by its large size and distinctive taste.

The search for truffles in the Syrian desert is a great risk to lives and is like a death trip (Reuters)

Heavy legacy

Despite the withdrawal of ISIS from Syria, its heavy legacy continues to kill civilians searching for truffles, as the organization had previously planted hundreds of mines in the areas from which it withdrew from eastern Syria.

The organization continued this pattern during its battles, as it booby-trapped and planted many devices and mines on its way to the east.

The countryside of Deir Ezzor, Homs and Hama are considered the most dangerous areas for the lives of civilians, as hardly a month passes without any death or severe injury cases recorded for people on their way to this desert and its surroundings.

The media activist, Suhaib Al-Yarabi from northeastern Syria, says that he documented the killing of dozens of civilians in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, during the truffle collection process, confirming the killing of 12 people from the town of Maadan in the countryside of Raqqa during the past year due to the explosion of mines and killings attributed to unknown persons, which prompted the people of this town To refrain from the search process.

According to Al-Yarubi, 18 people were killed in the countryside of Hama on March 8, as a result of the explosion of a landmine in a transport bus that was taking them to the Badia in search of truffles, so it was their last trip.