Mine blast kills more than 20 civilians in Syria

DAMASCUS: More than 20 civilians were killed on Sunday in central Syria when a landmine left behind by Jihadists exploded under a van, the state news agency Sana said.

The ordnance left behind by the Islamic State group in the town of Salamiyeh killed farmworkers who were heading to a region in the Hama province to pick truffles, Sana said, citing local police.

It was the second such incident since February 8 when a landmine that had been planted by IS in rural Hama exploded killing seven civilians, Sana said. IS had a presence in Hama’s countryside before the Syrian army drove the Jihadists from the area in 2017.

Before withdrawing they had planted mines in the area and rigged buildings with explosives, a tactic they have used in other areas as well. More than four years after IS overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq and declared a "caliphate", the Jihadist group has lost one territory after another and are left with only a tiny patch in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are closing in on Jihadists defending their last sliver of territory.