Wildfires rage across Algeria

ALGIERS — Wildfires fanned by blistering temperatures and tinder-dry conditions have killed at least 18 people in Algeria, the interior minister said on Tuesday, adding the fires had criminal origins.

Photographs posted on social media show huge walls of flame and billowing clouds of smoke towering over villages in the forested hills of the Kabylie region, east of the capital Algiers.

Algeria is the latest Mediterranean country to be hit by wildfires, after blazes hit Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.

Meteorologists said the temperature would hit 46ºC on Tuesday, and the country is also struggling with severe water shortages.

Fires were reported in multiple locations in 14 districts, 10 of them around Tizi Ouzou, one of the most populous cities in Kabylie.

Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud told television the fires had claimed the lives of seven people, including six in the region around Tizi Ouzou and one in Setif.

“Fifty fires starting at the same time is impossible. These fires are of criminal origin,” said Beldjoud, who headed a ministerial visit to Tizi Ouzou.

The urban centres of Bouira, Setif, Khenchela, Guelma, Bejaia, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Boumerdes, Tiaret, Medea, Tebessa, Blida and Skikda were also hit by fires, the civil protection directorate said on Twitter.

Major fires were also reported in Ait-Yenni, Azazga, Jijel and Yakourene.

Arson suspected 

Public radio reported the arrest of three suspected arsonists in Medea.

Arson has been blamed for several major fires in recent years.

Last month, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered a bill to stiffen punishments for starting a forest fire, with sentences of up to 30 years in prison — and possible life imprisonment, if the fire results in death.

In July, three people were arrested on suspicion of starting fires that devastated 15 square kilometres of forest in the Aures mountains.

In 2020, nearly 440 square kilometres of forest were destroyed by fire, and several people were arrested on suspicion of arson.

On Monday, the UN released a major report showing how the threat from global warming is even more acute than previously thought.

It highlighted how scientists are quantifying the extent to which human-induced warming increases the intensity and/or likelihood of a specific extreme weather event, such as a heatwave or a wildfire.