Wildfires on Syria's coast force evacuation of population

Syria's coastal province of Latakia has been hit by massive forest fires that have led to the displacement of part of the population, authorities said Friday (4).

Syria has been the scene of violent fires for days, spreading mainly along the coast. Firefighters are struggling to put them out due to strong winds and severe drought.

Abdulkafi Kayyal, director of disaster and emergency management in Latakia province, told the SANA news agency that fires in the Qastal Maaf region had reached several villages and that firefighters and civil defense personnel were evacuating residents.

The Syrian Civil Defense warned residents about “the spread of smoke emissions in the northern part of the coastal mountains, in the city of Hama, its countryside and in the southern Idlib region.”

With human-induced climate change increasing the frequency of droughts and wildfires around the world, Syria has been hit in recent years by heatwaves, a drop in rainfall and major wildfires.

In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told AFP that Syria had not experienced such bad weather conditions for 60 years.

According to the FAO, the drought could leave more than 16 million people in a situation of food insecurity.

The country is emerging from almost 14 years of civil war and is in full transition, following the overthrow, in December, of then president Bashar al Assad.

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