UN teams assess damage as wildfires rage across Syria’s Latakia province

United Nations teams have been deployed to Syria’s coastal Latakia province, where wildfires have been burning for four days, forcing hundreds of families to flee and destroying large areas of farmland and infrastructure.

The UN’s top humanitarian official in Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, said urgent assessments are underway to gauge the scale of the disaster and determine priority needs.

Firefighters from Türkiye and Jordan have joined Syrian crews, using helicopters to contain the blazes and protect the nearby al-Frunloq natural reserve — known for its dense, interconnected forests.

Syria’s emergency minister Raed al-Saleh called the situation “extremely tragic,” estimating that 10,000 hectares of forest had been destroyed.

There are concerns that unexploded ordnance from Syria’s long war could complicate firefighting in some areas.

The fires come amid worsening drought and water shortages after a dry winter, with experts warning that climate change is making summer fires more intense across the eastern Mediterranean.

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