Massive wildfires have ravaged the mountainous Jabal Turkman area in Syria’s coastal region since Thursday, destroying vast expanses of forest and stretching emergency response capabilities to their limits.
Civil defense director in Lattakia province, Abdel Kafi Kayyal, noted that firefighting efforts have been severely hampered by a combination of high winds, treacherous terrain, and lingering landmines, remnants of Syria’s long-running conflict.
The fires erupt at a critical time for the country, as the newly formed Syrian government struggles to guide national recovery after over a decade of war and heavy sanctions. In many areas, even the most basic services remain unavailable.
On Saturday, Syrian firefighting teams battled flames sweeping across the dense forests of Latakia.
The blaze has scorched a 20-kilometer (12-mile) swath of land, cutting off roadways, disrupting electricity, and forcing thousands to evacuate.
Dramatic drone footage captured the flames spreading rapidly across the rugged hillsides, intensifying as they reached drought-stricken woodland.
“This fire is extremely difficult,” Kayyal told CNN on Saturday, explaining that support units had been summoned from across Syria in an attempt to contain the blaze.
Despite these efforts, the inferno has already crossed into neighboring Tartous province, prompting a deployment of more than 60 firefighting units to the scene.
Syrian officials have turned to the international community for help. Turkey has responded with two helicopters and 11 fire trucks, while Jordan dispatched civil defense teams across the border on Sunday to assist in the containment operation.
Billowing smoke was seen rising from the forested hills of Latakia province on Saturday, a stark image of the growing crisis.
NASA’s FIRMS satellite tracking system estimates the burned area now covers over 180 square kilometers, surpassing the size of Damascus. With Syria’s total forest cover measured at around 5,270 square kilometers as of 2023, these fires have wiped out more than 3% of the nation’s forests in just three days.
The catastrophe is compounded by ongoing drought conditions. The Carnegie Endowment’s Middle East program reported last year that Syria’s Euphrates Basin, especially in the south and east, has experienced prolonged low rainfall and extreme heat for four consecutive years.