Syria's coastal areas ravaged by wildfires

Forest fires raged on Sunday in Syria's coastal area for a fifth consecutive day, with neighbouring countries offering assistance to emergency workers battling to extinguish the blaze.

Raed Al Saleh, Syria's Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management, described the wildfire, which started on Wednesday, as “one of the most difficult" to tackle due to the region's rugged terrain. The fires have affected 50 square kilometres, he added.

Turkey and Jordan have sent fire engines and are to fly planes overhead to help contain the fires. The Syrian government has so far sent 160 fire engines, Mr Al Saleh said. No casualties have been reported.

The coast where most of the fires have occurred contains most of Syria's green cover, about 4,000 square kilometres, or 2 per cent of Syria's landmass, in 2010, according to data recorded before the civil war broke out.

Decades of illegal logging and unlicensed building and farming, particularly during the 13-year conflict, have compromised the country's forests. The war ended in December, when an offensive, led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, toppled 54 years of Al Assad family rule.

The fires have been rampaging across the Latakia, Baniyas and Tartous governorates. Syrian Civil Defence head Munir Mustafa attributed the rapid spread of the flames to high temperatures and strong winds.

An Alawite telegram group with 82,000 subscribers said the radical Ansar Al Sunna group lit fires in the grasslands deliberately. Several Sunni Facebook pages blamed Alawite regime remnants, but no one provided any proof.

Alawite civil figure Mohammad Al Zuaiter told The National that civil defence crews working overnight had stopped the flames from spreading into the villages of his home area of Wadi Juhannam in Banias governorate.

Mr Zuaiter said negligence was probably involved but added that "there are lunatics from both sides who would like to burn not just forests", referring to the Alawite community and pro-government forces.

Syria, once a regional breadbasket, is undergoing one of its worst droughts in decades. In the late 2000s, the country became a wheat importer due to a lack of rain and the illegal use of water wells, which affected underground reservoirs.

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.

Syria's coastal areas ravaged by wildfires

Jordan and Turkey have sent assistance, including aircraft, to help battle blazes

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history