Farmland on Fire: Syria Continues to Battle Forest Fires With Minimal Intervention
Syria has been struggling for over eight years now, starting with the civil war, chemical weapons attacks, ISIS taking over large parts of its eastern side till 2011 when ISIS lost power other countries got involved; Russia and Iran, Syria’s key supporters, while the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are backing the rebels. This situation continues to become more complicated by the minute leading to more than 380,000 people being killed, millions displaced from their homes, and the deterioration of the country’s economical and political sovereignty. And just when you think it can’t get worse, fires break out in northern Syria, killing countless animals, trees, and vegetation.
The forest fires erupted last week and till now we’ve seen only minimal intervention from both the government and international organizations, no on-spot data for how large the areas are that have been affected, not to mention the lack of media coverage. The Assad regime’s Civil Defense, known as the “White Helmets”, as well as fire brigades, have been battling the flames that have unfortunately spread fast as a result of high winds, and the mountainous terrain, which only made fighting the flames even harder.
Latakia’s province forestry official, Hassan Fares, told AFP, “Numerous fires have been put out, others brought under control, but the fires continue to rage in some areas.” Summer fires are very common in Syria, and they usually get sparked by accident and are not linked to the war, but residents said that this year the fires are worse than usual.
