Algeria puts out wildfires in Tizi Ouzou province

By Hassan Jebril

ALGIERS, Algeria (AA) – Algeria's Civil Protection authority announced on Friday that its firefighters have put out all wildfires that had erupted in the country's northern Tizi Ouzou province, but they were still battling 35 other fires in 11 provinces.

The Civil Protection in a statement said the fires in Tizi Ouzou have been extinguished, but its teams are monitoring the situation to prevent further fires.

According to the statement, firefighter teams have extinguished 76 fires in 15 provinces in the last 24 hours, including 40 in Tizi Ouzou.

Two other fires were put out in the central Algerian provinces of Ain Defla and Medea, as well as in the northeastern Algerian province of Souk Ahras.

The Civil Protection said it is currently dealing with 35 wildfires in 11 provinces across the country.

On Thursday, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced the arrest of 22 people suspected of being behind the deadly wildfires that have killed 69 people, including 28 army personnel.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara