Wildfires destroy 15,000 hectares in Latakia, with international teams participating in extinguishing efforts

Firefighting teams continue their efforts to control a series of forest fires on the Syrian coast for the tenth consecutive day, while specialised teams from Qatar and Iraq have arrived as part of a regional coordination effort described as the largest in years to deal with this type of disaster.

The fires broke out in rugged and scattered locations, particularly in the coastal mountains of Latakia, and have so far destroyed at least 15,000 hectares of forests and agricultural land in one of the largest waves of fires to hit the Syrian coast in years.

The emergency operations room in Latakia confirmed that large areas of the northern Latakia countryside and Jabal al-Nisr are still experiencing active fires, with the fires spreading to the Kasab area on the Syrian Turkish border.

A source in the civil defense said that firefighting teams managed to control the fires on the Qastal-Ma’af-Kasab road despite significant difficulties caused by war debris, mines and the rugged terrain of the areas affected by the fires. The source explained that the firefighting operations included isolating the areas and opening firebreaks in the forests to enable the teams to reach the hotspots, with aircraft continuing to support the extinguishing operations to prevent the spread of the fires.

A Qatari field team comprising more than 100 people from the Qatari Civil Defense teams arrived at Aleppo International Airport on Saturday, along with Qatari teams from International Search and Rescue, the Air Force, and a 35-person team involved in operating and managing air operations, in addition to a specialized medical team.

Ground and air teams from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon are participating in firefighting operations as part of a joint effort to tackle the disaster.