Syria appeals to EU for help as wildfire spreads

Suspects have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in starting blaze

A Turkish glider drops water on flames near the town of Rabia in Syria's Latakia countryside. AP

Syria has appealed to the European Union for help as wildfires continue to spread in the coastal countryside of Latakia, forcing the evacuation of people from their homes.

Raed Al Saleh, Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management, said aircraft from Cyprus could be sent to support the operation to extinguish the fires, alongside crews from Turkey and Jordan already on the scene. Lebanon has also sent aircraft, he said.

Sixteen planes are currently working to control the blazes, Mr Al Saleh added, with the number expected to reach 20.

Twenty-five families have been evacuated from their homes in Al Ghassaniya village in the Ras Al Basit district of Latakia in the west of the country, the minister said.

Strong winds, rugged terrain and unexploded ordnance littering the region were hindering firefighting efforts, Mr Al Saleh said, with an area covering about 14,000 hectares now in flames.

In Ras Al Basit, the fires were continuing to spread, state news agency Sana reported late on Tuesday.

Footage from White Helmets shows magnitude of Syria's raging wildfires

Footage from White Helmets shows magnitude of Syria's raging wildfires

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Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al Baba said people had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in starting the fires. He said the ministry was investigating the causes of the blaze to determine whether they were deliberately set.

“There are suspects, they have been arrested and are currently under investigation, and if their involvement is proven it will be announced,” he was quoted by Sana as saying.

The fires have been rampaging across the Latakia, Baniyas and Tartus governorates. The coastal region contains most of Syria's green space, covering about 4,000 square kilometres, or 2 per cent of the nation's land mass, according to data recorded in 2010 before Syria's civil war broke out.

Syria's forests have been compromised by decades of illegal logging along with unlicensed building and farming, particularly during the 13-year war.

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.