Algeria has arrested 22 people suspected of being behind the most devastating forest fires in the country’s history, killing 69 people, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on Thursday, calling the fires a “disaster” and calling for national unity.
Dozens of forest fires have hit mountainous areas in northern Algeria since Monday, mainly in Tizi Ouzou, the main province of the Kabylie region east of the capital, Algiers. On Thursday, Algeria held a national day of mourning for dozens killed.
“Some fires have been caused by high temperatures, but criminal hands were behind most of them,” Tebboune said in a live state television broadcast. “We have arrested 22 suspects, including 11 in Tizi Ouzou. Justice will fulfill its duty.”
At least 28 military personnel were among the dead when the North African country deployed its army to help firefighters contain fires that ravaged several houses in forest areas.
“It’s a disaster … a disaster. But our force will not collapse,” Tebboune said, praising aid vehicles from other provinces for supplying affected regions with food, medicine and donations of other materials.
“We must preserve national unity … I insist on national unity,” he added.
In addition to soldiers on the ground, the army has used six helicopters to put out fires. They are supported by two firefighting planes hired from the European Union and which have been in operation since early Thursday.
The government will receive two more planes from Spain on Friday and a third from Switzerland over the next three days, Tebboune said.
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