Civil Defense members spray water after wildfires burned large swathes of Lebanon’s pine forests in northern Qobeiyat. (Credit: Walid Saleh/Reuters)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army sent two helicopters to northern Lebanon to aid in the fight against wildfires that are raging in the Akkar region for the third day in a row.
Here’s what we know:
• The military aircrafts were dispatched around 6 a.m., and an artificial basin has been set up to facilitate water access in the affected areas.
• The Lebanese authorities have already contacted Cyprus to support the army and Civil Defense in fighting the fires.
• The wildfires, which broke out in Akkar on Wednesday and have spread to Hermel in the Bekaa Valley as well as other areas neighboring Syria, have killed a 15-year-old volunteer helping in the response efforts and forced numerous residents to evacuate their homes.
• Nearly two years ago, in the leadup to the mass-antigovernment protests that broke out in October 2019, the state proved incapable of fighting wildfires that devastated large parts of the Chouf area. Reports surfaced that the government failed to keep up helicopters that had been donated to the country to help combat wildfires, even though money had been allocated in the annual budget for their maintenance.