(MENAFN) Syria’s civil defense and firefighting units persisted on Saturday in their efforts to put out forest fires that broke out the previous day in the Turkmen mountain region of Latakia province, located in the country’s northwest.

The fire initially ignited on Friday in the village of Bashoura and quickly spread due to strong winds, reported a Syrian news agency.

Civil defense teams from the Emergency and Disaster Management Ministry, along with personnel from the Agriculture Ministry, have been mobilized to control the blaze.

Mahmoud Al-Shariqi, commander of the Civil Defense team in Latakia, noted that operations have been complicated by challenging terrain, gusty winds, and the presence of unexploded ordnance left from the war in nearby zones – dangers that demand careful attention from the responders.

Despite these obstacles, Al-Shariqi emphasized that teams are operating at maximum capacity and expressed optimism that progress would be achieved in the coming hours by "extinguishing active flames, cooling hotspots, and preventing the fire from spreading further."

Western Syria has experienced repeated forest and agricultural fires this summer, particularly in Latakia, where high temperatures, arid conditions, and thick forests have contributed to severe incidents.

In July, wildfires in the Latakia mountains raged for 12 days, consuming over 16,000 hectares (39,537 acres) of woodland, including 2,200 hectares of farmland, and impacting 45 villages and approximately 1,200 families.

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