Dozens of soldiers and civilians have died fighting wildfires sweeping through villages and mountain forests in Algeria, as fires also break out across Tunisia, APA reports citing Independent.
The Defence Ministry confirmed in a statement on Wednesday the death toll has risen to 65, including 28 soldiers.
On Tuesday, Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said several soldiers had died trying to rescue 100 local residents, describing them in a tweet as “martyrs.”
The wildfires have spread across large areas in Kabyle, the region home to the North African nation’s Berber population, and its capital Tizi-Ouzou which is flanked by mountains.
Kabyle, 60 miles east of Algeria’s capital of Algiers, is famous for its rugged terrain and difficult access to villages and towns due to its hilly landscape. The wildfires have also spread to the Bejaia area, which borders the Mediterranean Sea, according to the president.
Algeria is witnessing a heatwave, with the temperature rise affecting water resources. Some villagers were fleeing, while others tried to hold back the flames themselves, using buckets, branches and rudimentary tools. The region has no water-dumping planes.
Eleven soldiers were burned fighting the fires, four of them seriously, the Defence Ministry said.
The Prime Minister, Aymen Benabderrahmane, said his government sought help from the international community and is currently leading talks with partners to charter planes to assist the firefighting efforts.
He also saId security reports showed the fires in Kabyle were “highly synchronized,” which he noted, “leads one to believe these were criminal acts.”
“Thirty fires at the same time in the same region can’t be by chance,” Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud, who had travelled to Kabyle to assess the situation, told.
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