2021 Algeria wildfires explained

2021 Algeria wildfires
Location:Kabylia region, Algeria
Date:June – October 2021
Cause:Unknown
Fatalities:90 (57 civilians and 33 soldiers)
Year:2021
Perps: Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (per Algerian authorities)[1]

The 2021 Algeria wildfires were multiple wildfires that happened in the Kabylia region of Algeria since 9 August 2021, which have killed 90 people,[2] including 57 civilians and 33 soldiers. The soldiers died after being trapped in the blaze during rescue operations.[3] [4] [5] [6]

On 9 August, many fires started up in the Kabylia region and elsewhere, and Algerian authorities sent soldiers to help citizens with the blazes and evacuations.

On 10 August, multiple fires burned Mediterranean trees, destroying olive trees and killing cattle and chickens.Many distant villages have very limited water. Some villagers fled, while others tried to hold back the flames themselves, using buckets, branches and rudimentary tools, due to the unavailability of firefighting aircraft.

On 12 August, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in a live speech on state television that "criminal hands were behind most" of the fires and that 22 people have been arrested.[7]

After 7 days following the appearance of the wildfires, Civil Protection units have successfully extinguished 41 forest fires in nine provinces in the past 24 hours,[8] and complete extinction of fires in Annaba was reported.[9]

On 17 August, all forest fires in Jijel and Sétif were extinguished.[10] [11]

On 18 August, the President's Office said that "ultimate responsibility" for fires lay with the Islamist Rachad group and MAK, an ethnopolitical autonomy organization that aims to split the ethnic Berber region of Kabyle from the rest of Algeria, with "support and help from foreign parties, particularly Morocco and the Zionist entity", referring to Israel.[12] [13] [14]

The 2021 Algerian-Israeli naval incident took place during these wildfires on 27 September.[15]

Casualties

A report from Sonelgaz revealed that a total of 610km (380miles) of electricity network and no less than 710 stations were destroyed by fires in Tizi Ouzou Province.[16] The Local Direction of Agricultural Services (DSA) reported that 5,193 hectares of fruit trees and 19,178 farm animals were burned.[17] Engineers from the Technical Construction Control body (CTC) appraised 1,705 homes damaged by the fires.[18]

In May 2022, the Algerian Directorate General of Forests (DGF) reported that over of vegetation were affected by fires in the summer of 2021, with 1,631 fire outbreaks recorded across 21 wilayas.[19] The breakdown of the affected areas is as follows:

Affected area by outbreaks!Wilaya!Outbreaks
Tizi Ouzou241
Jijel164
Skikda125
Bejaia112
Tipasa97
Bouira86
El Tarf82
Médéa66
Boumerdes63
Oum El Bouaghi56
Affected area by hectares!Wilaya!Hectares
Tizi Ouzou43,398
Bejaia13,174
Khenchela9,837
Guelma5,927
El Tarf5,090
Annaba5,024

Killing of Djamel Ben Ismail

See main article: Killing of Djamel Ben Ismail. Djamel Ben Ismail, an artist and social activist from Miliana, was brutally killed by a mob days after the fires began in Tizi Ouzou. He was initially accused of arson without substantiation.

A video showing the assault against Ben Ismail went viral online, showing his final minutes as he was burned alive and killed for his alleged role. However, social media users identified him as a prominent artist who was present in the area to help residents put out the fires.[20] [21] [22]

In the video, Ben Ismail was pleading with the mob, repetitively insisting that he had no role in the wildfires. Several members of the group were shouting racist and insulting slang at the victim, such as sale arabe, which is French for dirty Arab. It is believed that several members of this mob appearing in the footage are affiliated with the MAK, an organization accused by Algerian authorities as having separatist aims and an anti-Arab sentiment.[23] Due to this, it is strongly believed that Ben Ismail was in fact guiltless.

The Directorate General for National Security (DGSN) affirmed the arrest of 36 suspects, including 3 women, involved in Ben Ismail's assassination and lynching in Larbaâ Nath Irathen, Tizi Ouzou.[24] On 17 August, the DGSN released a video including confessions from new suspects arrested in connection with the case.[25] The criminal court of Dar El Beida sentenced 49 people to death for the homicide and mutilation of Ben Ismail.[26]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021-09-15 . Algerian journalist, others detained in growing crackdown . 2023-10-24 . 95.5 WSB . en.
  2. News: Algerian wildfires still raging, death toll hits 90 including 33 soldiers. Africa News. 15 August 2021.
  3. News: Algeria forest fires: At least 65 people killed as fires spread. 11 August 2021 . BBC News . BBC News . 11 August 2021.
  4. News: Incendi, 38 morti in Algeria . 10 August 2021 . ansa.it . ansa.it . 10 August 2021.
  5. News: 2021-08-11. At least 65 killed in Algerian wildfires. 2021-08-11. Reuters.
  6. News: Incendi in Algeria, i morti aumentano a 65 . 11 August 2021 . ansa.it . ansa.it . 11 August 2021.
  7. News: 13 August 2021 . Algeria arrests 22 suspected arsonists over deadly blazes . Al Jazeera .
  8. News: KHALEF . Fatiha . August 16, 2021 . Extinction de 41 feux de forêts dans plusieurs wilayas . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210816130532/https://www.aps.dz/regions/126211-protection-civile-extinction-de-41-feux-de-forets-dans-plusieurs-wilayas-au-cours-des-dernieres-24h . August 16, 2021 . August 16, 2021 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  9. News: Dib . Nassima . August 16, 2021 . Extinction totale des incendies à d'Annaba . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211221055701/https://www.aps.dz/regions/126237-extinction-totale-des-incendies-a-d-annaba . December 21, 2021 . August 16, 2021 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  10. News: Dib . Nassima . August 17, 2021 . Extinction de tous les incendies de forêt à Jijel . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211221055654/https://www.aps.dz/regions/126287-extinction-de-tous-les-incendies-de-foret-a-jijel . December 21, 2021 . August 17, 2021 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  11. News: Dib . Nassima . August 17, 2021 . Sétif: extinction totale de tous les incendies de forêts . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211221055658/https://www.aps.dz/regions/126290-setif-extinction-totale-de-tous-les-incendies-de-forets . December 21, 2021 . August 17, 2021 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  12. News: 18 August 2021 . Algeria accuses groups it links to Morocco, Israel of setting wildfires . Reuters .
  13. News: 18 August 2021 . Algeria accuses Morocco of involvement in its deadly fires, to "review" relations . Africanews .
  14. News: 19 August 2021 . Algeria blames groups it links to Morocco, Israel for wildfires . Al Jazeera .
  15. Web site: Akramov . 2021-10-01 . Ce que l'on sait de l'incident avec un sous-marin Israélien - . 2023-01-08 . MENADEFENSE . fr-FR.
  16. News: Dib . Nassima . August 19, 2021 . Incendies de Tizi-Ouzou: plus de 600 km de réseau électrique détruits par les feux . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210819230845/https://www.aps.dz/regions/126362-incendies-de-tizi-ouzou-plus-de-600-km-de-reseau-electrique-detruits-par-les-feux . August 19, 2021 . August 19, 2021 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  17. News: Boudjedri . Mounia . 22 August 2021 . Tizi-Ouzou/Incendies: plus de 5.100 ha d'arbres fruitiers et plus de 19.100 animaux d'élevage brulés . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211215220045/https://www.aps.dz/regions/126427-tizi-ouzou-incendies-plus-de-5-100-ha-d-arbres-fruitiers-et-plus-de-19-100-animaux-d-elevage-brules . 15 December 2021 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  18. News: Dib . Nassima . September 1, 2021 . Incendies de Tizi-Ouzou: Plus de 1700 habitations brûlées expertisées par le CTC . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210901142114/https://www.aps.dz/regions/126787-incendies-de-tizi-ouzou-plus-de-1700-habitations-brulees-expertisees-par-le-ctc . September 1, 2021 . September 1, 2021 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  19. News: Dib . Nassima . May 10, 2022 . Feux de forêt: plus 100.000 hectares ravagés dans 21 wilayas durant l'été 2021 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220510205539/https://www.aps.dz/economie/139524-feux-de-foret-plus-100-000-hectares-ravages-dans-21-wilayas-durant-l-ete-2021 . May 10, 2022 . May 10, 2022 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  20. Web site: Lawal . Shola . 2022-11-25 . 49 People Sentenced to Death for Killing Man Wrongly Blamed for Forest Fires . 2023-06-03 . Vice . en.
  21. Web site: AfricaNews . 2022-11-25 . Algerian court sentences 49 to death for mob killing amid wildfires . 2023-06-03 . Africanews . en.
  22. News: 2022-11-25 . 49 people sentenced to death for mob killing in Algeria . 2023-06-03 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077 . Associated Press.
  23. News: Bellgheddouche . Mohamed . October 15, 2023 . Affaire de Djamel Bensamail: un accusé avoue son appartenance au mouvement terroriste "MAK . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231015224316/https://www.aps.dz/algerie/161317-affaire-du-meurtre-de-djamel-bensamail-un-accuse-avoue-son-appartenance-au-mouvement-terroriste-mak . October 15, 2023 . October 15, 2023 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  24. News: Dib . Nassima . August 15, 2021 . Affaire de l'assassinat de Djamel Bensmail à Tizi Ouzou: arrestation de 36 mis en cause . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210815174821/https://www.aps.dz/algerie/126173-affaire-de-l-assassinat-de-djamel-bensmail-a-tizi-ouzou-arrestation-de-36-mis-en-cause . August 15, 2021 . August 15, 2021 . Algeria Press Service . fr.
  25. News: Dib . Nassima . 17 August 2021 . Assassinat de Djamel Bensmail: nouveaux aveux d'autres mis en cause arrêtés . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210817181100/https://www.aps.dz/algerie/126272-assassinat-de-djamel-bensmail-nouveaux-aveux-d-autres-mis-en-cause-arretes . 17 August 2021 . Algeria Press Service . fr-FR.
  26. News: Ait Seddik . Baha eddine . November 24, 2022 . Meurtre de Djamel Bensmaïl: le chef du Mouvement terroriste "MAK" condamné à la perpétuité . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221124164623/https://www.aps.dz/algerie/147966-meurtre-de-djamel-bensmail-le-chef-du-mouvement-terroriste-mak-condamne-a-la-perpetuite . November 24, 2022 . November 24, 2022 . Algeria Press Service . fr.

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