For more than a week, the heights surrounding the Kasserine have witnessed the outbreak of at least 6 fires, including 4 fires in the closed military areas of Djebel Chambi, Salloum, Samamah and Mghila.
Fires also broke out in Mount Tam Smaida from the delegation of Feriana, and another fire broke out in Mount Kleia from Perino, from the delegation of Tala.
The fires destroyed important areas of the forest cover, in addition to the feeling of suffocation for a large number of citizens living in the foothills of these mountains, as they expressed their discontent after the fires reached the areas near their homes and the high temperature.
Civil Protection Intervene
The Regional Director of Civil Protection in Kasserine, Brigadier Youssef Afi, said in a statement to” JDD Tunisi”e that civil protection agents are prohibited from interfering and putting out fires in closed military areas, given the spread of terrorists and anti-human mines there.
He pointed out that their field of intervention includes fires near residential communities away from closed military areas, stressing that they were able to put out most of the fires in Mount Tam Samida and Mount Perino, while the Jabal Salloum fire was only intervened near the “fragile” area.
He continued, “The mountains surround the entire Kasserine and extend to the Algerian border, and these heights are classified as dangerous places because they contain a large number of terrorists, in addition to the severity and ruggedness of the access to a number of fires raging at the tops of these mountains due to the absence of the necessary capabilities.”
Forest agents are fully prepared to intervene and put out the fires whenever the military units ask them to do so. It is up to them to decide whether or not to intervene, considering that the fires broke out in a closed military area, he said.
The same source stated that a number of fires were extinguished in a number of mountainous heights, but in places far from closed military areas, and they were intervened by forestry and civil protection interests.
Youssef Afi confirmed that most of the fires in the mountains are fabricated, either deliberately or because of the indifference of some citizens, especially those working in the field of wreath distillation, where some of them may forget the fires are burning, in addition to some young people who use these forests as an area to practice certain activities or drink wine and others.
He stated that the spontaneous ignition of fires inside mountain forests is rare and does not happen often, especially since the forest nature in Kasserine does not enable the ignition of fires, unlike the quality of trees in the highlands of the northwest.
Lawyer and activist Youssef Mohammadi said in a statement to “JDD Tunisie” that the heights of Kasserine witnessed heavy artillery shelling last week by the National Army, which all the people heard before the outbreak of fires, expressing his surprise at the coincidence of the fires in different areas and in almost the same manner.
He added, “It is unreasonable to burn 3 mountains surrounding the people of Kasserine at the same time, (Salloum, Samama and Shaanbi) inside closed military areas.”
He continued, “The regional authorities are unable to put out the fires due to the poor capabilities, as well as the outbreak of them in areas classified as dangerous,” noting that the army did not intervene, considering that the terrorists might surprise them at any moment.
The military denies
A source from the National Army denied, in a statement to “JDD Tunisie”, that any artillery shelling caused the fires to erupt in the Kasserine Heights, noting that a number of them broke out far from closed military areas.
The source suggested the possibility of natural factors, with the rise in temperatures , in causing the fires.
