Wildfires blaze through Algeria, killing 65

Wildfires tearing through forested areas of northern Algeria have killed at least 65 people, state television reported on Wednesday (August 11) as the country battled some of the most destructive blazes in its history.

The government has deployed the army to help fight the fires, which have burnt most fiercely in the mountainous Kabylie region, and 28 of the dead are soldiers.

Eyewitness footage showed fires ripping through a forest in Tizi Ouzou, the largest Kabylie district, where houses have burned and residents have fled to hotels, hostels and university accommodation in nearby towns.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning and froze state activities not related to the fires.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would send two water bombers to the Kabylie region, promising on Twitter to “bring all our support to Algerian citizens.”

Forest fires have set large parts of Algeria, Turkey and Greece aflame over the past week as temperatures rose.

Dozens of fires have raged through forest areas across northern Algeria since Monday (August 9). On Tuesday (August 10), Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud accused arsonists of igniting the flames, but produced no evidence.

Meanwhile, Algeria has arrested 22 people suspected of being behind the most devastating wildfires in the country’s history that killed 65 people, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on Thursday, calling the fires a ‘disaster’ and urging the preservation of national unity.

Dozens of forest fires have hit mountainous areas in northern Algeria since Monday, mainly in Tizi Ouzou, the main province of the Kabylie region east of the capital, Algiers.

“Some fires have been caused by high temperatures but criminal hands were behind most of them,” Tebboune said in a live speech on state television. “We have arrested 22 suspects, including 11 in Tizi Ouzou. Justice will perform its duty.”