International Desk: At least 53 people were killed when ISIL attacked in Syria’s central desert province of Homs, reports Aljazeera.

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The bodies of the victims were taken to the Palmyra state hospital who had been gunshot wounds to the head, state news agency SANA reported on Friday.

State media said the victims were gathering desert truffles when they were attacked. Homs province is controlled by the Syrian government and its allies.

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The director of Palmyra hospital, Walid Audi, said the dead were 46 civilians and seven soldiers. Five people who were wounded were transferred to another hospital. One of the survivors told SANA that ISIL fighters had burned their cars.

If confirmed that ISIL was responsible, the attack would mark the deadliest by the group since January 2022 when its fighters stormed a prison in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Hassakeh in a bid to free fellow ISIL members.

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The group once controlled vast swathes of territory in Syria but lost its hold on land in separate offensives by US-backed fighters, Syrian government forces backed by Russia, regional fighters and Turkish-backed rebels.

Now, ISIL uses sleeper cells to wage hit-and-run attacks in Syria.

Sun News/MR

people attacked province desert Homs Syria

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