Truffles whet the appetite of ISIS to extend its influence in the Syrian Badia

Aya Ezz

A “bloody season” is the closest way to describe the truffle harvesting season in the countryside of Aleppo and Hama in the Syrian Badia due to the massacres committed by ISIS, in addition to children and youth collecting in dangerous and unsafe conditions under the threat of mines and explosives planted by armed groups in the areas surrounding the truffle fields, and the terrorist organization also exploits the collection of the distinctive mushrooms to finance its terrorist activities.

Increase in the number of victims

Several regions in eastern Syria are witnessing an increase in the number of victims of truffle picking, as ISIS targets this mushroom and those who collect it with repeated attacks.

Picking truffles is an important source of livelihood for many families in many regions, especially the Badia desert stretching between the south and north of Syria along the Iraqi border. Truffle harvesting is also considered part of the important seasonal agricultural activities in these areas.

Truffles are sold for between $5 and $25 per kilogram, depending on the quality and size of the fruits.

What does ISIS gain from harvesting truffles?

Truffles represent an important source of funding for ISIS, according to Syrian activist Fathi Jaryan, who said that the organization benefits from the truffle season in several ways, as this mushroom is an important source of funding for the organization in the areas it controls, where it can control its production and trade by imposing taxes and fees on the peasants and merchants who cultivate and trade in it.

He explained in statements to the Reference that ISIS can sell truffles on the black market at high prices, and this helps it to finance its various activities.

Jaryan pointed out that the organization uses the truffle season to recruit local farmers and workers in the areas it controls by providing them with job opportunities in the fields, and thus providing them with sources of income. He added that ISIS uses truffles to finance its various activities by exchanging them with other materials in the local and international markets.

Exhaustion of the Syrian army

Meanwhile, Syrian political analyst Mohsen Fakhry believes that the campaigns of the Syrian Arab Army and the Special Forces, with the help of Russian aviation, against ISIS terrorists in the Syrian Badia did not stop and take on a periodic nature, but rather intensified greatly during the truffle massacres.

He added in a special statement to the Reference that ISIS does not possess supernatural capabilities, but it draws logistical and direct support from the American forces in order to remain constantly ready to drain the Syrian Arab Army and lure it into the depth of the Syrian desert by targeting unarmed civilians picking truffles.

Fakhry pointed out that the Al-Tanf base located in the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi border triangle constitutes a starting point for ISIS terrorists and the rest of the factions to target civilians, and the goal is to provoke the Syrian army and lure it into exhaustion.