Syria: Muslims murder three truffle hunters, kidnap 26 others

Why the truffle hunters are being targeted remains unclear. It could be because the hunting involves dogs, which are unclean in Islam, although an exception is made in the relevant hadith for hunting dogs: “Ibn Mughaffal reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) ordered killing of the dogs, and then said: What about them, i. e. about other dogs? and then granted concession (to keep) the dog for hunting and the dog for (the security) of the herd, and said: When the dog licks the utensil, wash it seven times, and rub it with earth the eighth time.” — Sahih Muslim 551

And why all the kidnapping? “As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, ‘When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks’ (Qur’an sura 47, verse 4)” — Al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance).

“Three Truffle Hunters Killed, 26 Kidnapped In North Syria: Monitor,” Agence France Presse, March 11, 2023 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Suspected Islamic State group militants on Saturday killed three truffle hunters and kidnapped at least 26 others in northern Syria, a war monitor said, in the latest attack during this year’s harvest.

“Armed men likely affiliated with IS cells targeted truffle hunters” in the desert southeast of Aleppo, “killing three by cutting their throats and kidnapping at least 26 others, including women,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights….

Between February and April each year, hundreds of impoverished Syrians search for truffles in the vast Syrian Desert, or Badia — a known hideout for jihadists that is also littered with landmines.

Since February, 139 people — 120 of them civilians — have been killed by IS attacks targeting truffle hunters or mines left by the extremists, according to the Observatory.

After the jihadists lost their last scraps of territory in March 2019 following a military onslaught backed by a US-led coalition, IS remnants in Syria mostly retreated to hideouts in the desert.

They have since used such hideouts to ambush civilians, Kurdish-led forces, Syrian government troops and pro-Iranian fighters, while also mounting attacks in neighbouring Iraq.

Syria’s desert truffles fetch high prices in a country battered by 12 years of war and a crushing economic crisis….