Syria: Farmland on Fire in Northeast Syria

Aug 24, 2020 | PAX
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A substantial number of the fires are the result of ongoing tension between Turkish-backed Syrian militias and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria, and may have various causes. Shelling along the frontlines is likely to have ignited fires, leaving blackened earth as crops and grazing land have burned. Deliberate torching of farmland may also be a tactic to destroy livelihoods in local communities. The so-called Islamic State has also made calls to burn cropland. This part of Syria, known as the ‘breadbasket of the country’, suffered from similar fires last summer (2019) when many farmers lost their harvest.