update 14 July 2025
Syrian Emergency Minister Raed al-Saleh, posted on X:
"The civil defense firefighting teams, fire brigades, and supporting Turkish and Arab units working to extinguish the Latakia forest fires reached a promising stage on the evening of Saturday, July 12. The spread of fire across all axes has been halted—this is the most important step toward controlling the blaze. Efforts are now focused on extinguishing the remaining hotspots and cooling down areas that have been put out.
According to the operations room assessment, today marks the best situation we've seen in the past ten days. There are still threats due to wind movement, but we’re working to prevent any further spread of the flames. We wouldn’t have reached this stage without God’s grace, the unity of efforts, high-level coordination, strong public support, and the backing of firefighting teams from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Qatar."
Syrian Emergency Minister Raed Al-Saleh announced today that firefighting teams responded to more than 15 wildfires across the provinces of Latakia, Tartus, Hama, and Idlib, bringing the total number of fires since the beginning of June to over 1,500 incidents.
In a post on X, the minister explained that aircraft are only deployed upon request from field teams, and based on strict criteria involving wind speed, terrain, and proximity to water sources. He added that most current fire zones are unsuitable for aerial intervention.
Despite rugged landscapes and lingering effects of war, fire crews continue to work tirelessly to protect forests, and the minister affirmed that his ministry would collaborate with local communities and government institutions to restore burned areas.
SANA State News Agency reported that Syrian Civil Defense units extinguished three wildfires this evening in the rural outskirts of Jableh, Latakia.
Several fires broke out simultaneously in Latakia, particularly in:
The Mashqita forest
Wadi Basour in Kansaba
The villages of Al-Rihaniyah, Keemin, Al-Qanjara, and Janata
Coastal Civil Defense Director Abdel-Kafi Kayyal told SANA’s correspondent that the fires put out included:
One in the woods surrounding Istamu village
Another near Bsisin village
A third along the outskirts of Jableh city
He noted that firefighting teams managed to prevent the flames from spreading wider or reaching residential areas, despite difficult terrain, rising temperatures, and strong winds.
Kayyal confirmed that crews were still actively working to contain the most expansive fires, particularly those raging in the forests of Al-Rihaniyah on Jabal Al-Turkman, as well as Kansaba, Qanjara, and Daghmasha in rural Latakia.
Moumin Sawady

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