Written by Layla Hassan
ALGIERS — At least 34 people have been killed and more than 150 others hospitalized after devastating forest fires swept through Mascara province in northwestern Algeria on Thursday, the civil defense directorate confirmed. The fires, fanned by temperatures exceeding 46°C and dry winds exceeding 60 km/h, destroyed over 3,000 hectares of forest and farmland and forced the evacuation of seven villages.
Interior Minister Brahim Merad declared a national emergency and ordered the deployment of the Algerian army’s civil protection units alongside 12 firefighting aircraft borrowed from Morocco and Tunisia under a mutual aid agreement. King Mohammed VI of Morocco personally authorized the deployment of two Canadian CL-415 water-bomber aircraft to assist, and Tunisia sent a Mi-17 helicopter with a 3,000-liter bucket system. It marks the first trilateral emergency response between Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia since the normalization of diplomatic ties in December.
Local officials said the fires began in three separate locations within a 45-minute window on Thursday afternoon — raising initial suspicion of arson. The Algerian army’s Signal Corps said it was investigating two men seen setting fires near the village of Boudjebrane before fleeing. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune cut short a visit to Beijing and returned to Algiers to chair an emergency crisis meeting.
The National Meteorological Office has extended a red alert for extreme fire danger across nine provinces. Spain and France have offered additional aerial firefighting support through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
The fires are Algeria’s deadliest since 2021, when 90 people were killed in fires across Tizi Ouzou and Bejaïa provinces.