Fires burn wide spaces of forests in Syria’s Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, fires burned down large spaces of forest areas surrounding Rajo district in the countryside of Afrin, northwest Syria.
Locals sources told North Press that a large fire broke out in the forests near the village of Atmana in Rajo district and lasted for hours, burning about 20 dunams of land.
Firefighter teams put out the fires after working for long hours using water and isolation methods due to the rough terrain of the region and the inability to access some spaces because of the widespread fires.
Regions in northwest Syria recorded on Saturday six fires that broke out in various areas. According to the Civil Defense (White Helmets), affiliated with the Syrian opposition, five fires broke out in agricultural lands in different regions in Idlib, northwest Syria, whereas one broke out in a diesel tank in the town of Ibbin in the west of Aleppo.
Afrin has been under the occupation of Turkey and Turkish-backed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), since 2018 following a military operation dubbed “Olive Branch” against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of preserving Turkey’s national security.
The operation caused the displacement of about 300,000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin, who have been taking shelter in 42 villages and five camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba region, since then.
After the occupation of Afrin, the SNA factions committed violations such as cutting down thousands of trees to sell as firewood and clearing spaces for building settlements.