Death toll from Islamic State attack in Syria at least 53

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s state media and an opposition war monitor say the death total from an attack by the Islamic State group against an army checkpoint and people collecting wild truffles in central Syria has risen to at least 53. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Saturday the attack the day before targeted a Syrian army checkpoint and people collecting wild truffles nearby. The group said the attack killed 68, including 61 civilians. Syria’s state news agency, SANA, quoted the head of the general hospital in the central town of Palmyra as saying that they have received the bodies of 46 civilians and seven soldiers.