Syria shuts land crossing with Turkey as fires brought under control

Syrian civil defence reports successful containment near frontier with Hatay

A helicopter drops water to extinguish a forest fire in the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside. AP

Syrian authorities have closed a border crossing with Turkey after forest fires spread close to the coastal area north-west of the country.

Officials said that crews worked overnight on Sunday and the fires have been brought under control, according to the Syrian civil defence agency.

The fires stared on July 2, amid one of the worst droughts in Syria in decades, and followed a wave of sectarian killings on the coast, the heartland of Syria's minority Alawite sect.

Syrian firefighters contain wildfires in coastal regions

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The crossing, in a wooded area between the Syrian area of Kassab and the Turkish governorate of Hatay, was closed for safety reasons, the authorities said on Saturday. Turkey is Syria's economic lifeline, supplying the country with a large portion of its fuel and basic food needs.

Ismail Al Abdullah, a spokesman for the Syrian civil defence, told The National from the Kassab area that most of the coastal fires have been extinguished with the help of crews from Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, but that two areas remain active.

These are the Zahia and Attera areas of Turkmen Mountain. Attera is about four kilometres south of the Turkish border.

“The crews worked overnight, and the efforts are continuing so the fires will not extend to the Turkish side,” Mr Al Abdullah said.

“With the spread of the fires halted and the fire hotspots brought under control on all fronts”, the civil defence said, its teams are now working to cool down the affected areas while monitoring for any signs of reignition.

Rescue teams are carrying out “operations to open pathways and firebreaks within the forests … in order to reduce the chances of fire spreading in case of reignition”, it said.

This comes after another civil defence official told The National on Sunday that the situation remains “highly tense”.

Four other crossings with Turkey remain open. The Kassab crossing, however, is the closest route between the coast and Turkey, particularly Hatay and Iskandaroun provinces, where many Turkish nationals of Syrian origin live.

The fires began earlier this month in Turkmen Mountain in Latakia governorate. Soon after, areas in the near by governorates of Baniyas and Tartous, as well as Hama in the interior, were also ablaze.

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

Decades of illegal logging, unlicensed construction and unregulated 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.

Officials attributed the rapid spread of the flames to high temperatures and strong winds and said there was no evidence of foul play.

In the late 2000s, Syria became a wheat importer due to a lack of rain and the illegal use of water wells, which depleted underground reservoirs.

Firefighting assistance has also come from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish militia that controls parts of eastern Syria. The SDF has been the main political rival of the current government.