DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities said some 100 square kilometres (40 square miles) of forest had “turned to ash” in wildfires as firefighters from neighbouring Jordan arrived Sunday to battle a fourth day of blazes in the province of Latakia.
Syrian emergency workers have faced tough conditions including high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous terrain in the coastal province and the danger of explosive war remnants, in a country scarred by years of conflict.
Jordanian civil defence teams crossed into Syria on Sunday morning, the Syrian ministry for emergency and disaster management said, as state media published footage of the convoy.
Minister Raed al-Saleh said on X that “hundreds of thousands of forest trees over an estimated area of around 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) in 28 locations have turned to ash”.
He said some 80 teams including civil defence personnel had been battling the blaze, noting local organisations and residents were also providing assistance, along with teams and firefighting aircraft from neighbouring Jordan and Turkey.
Turkey, a key backer of Syria’s new authorities, sent assistance including aircraft and fire engines on Saturday.
Jordan’s public security directorate said in a statement that the “specialised firefighting teams from the civil defence… have been provided with all the modern equipment and machinery necessary to carry out their duties to the fullest extent”.
Swathes of forested area and farmland have burned and some villages evacuated as the fires raged including near the Turkish border.
The United Nations deputy envoy to Syria Najat Rochdi said in a statement Sunday on X that Damascus “needs more international assistance” to face the fires.
A statement from the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Syria Adam Abdelmoula said that “UN teams are on the ground conducting urgent assessments to determine the scale of the disaster and to identify the most immediate humanitarian needs”.
Nearly seven months after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Syria is still reeling from more than a decade of civil war that ravaged the country’s economy, infrastructure and public services.
With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.
In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation told AFP that Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years”. – AFP
