Fires devour green spaces in Syria’s Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, fires broke out in a forest landscape, devouring vast green area in the Hawar Mountain area northwest of Afrin, north of Aleppo, run by the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA).
Local sources from the region told North Press that a fire broke out in a forest in Hawar Mountain and lasted over five hours, burning 90 trees in the region that is known to be a destination for people in their free time.
Firefighters rushed to the site and they faced difficulty extinguishing the fire due to difficult terrain and inability to access the area.
Massive fires broke out on May 28 across large swaths of wheat and barley fields in Afrin’s countryside following celebratory gunfire in response to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s victory in the presidential runoff.
Fires broke out on May 19 in a forest surrounding Mabatli district, in the northern countryside of Afrin. It was the second of its kind in less than a week.
Afrin has been under the occupation of the Turkish forces and their affiliated Syrian opposition factions, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA) since March 2018 following the so-called “Olive Branch” military operation to push away the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting “Turkish 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, thousands of olive trees have been cut down by the SNA factions, according to press and human rights reports.