Algeria - Athens: Europe and Arabs - Agencies
The General Directorate of Civil Protection in Algeria announced that all forest fires in the state of Tizi Ouzou, east of Algiers, have been extinguished.
According to the statement of the Directorate, all hotbeds in the villages of Beni Douala and Larbaa Nath Irathen have been controlled.
It indicated that the guarding process is ongoing, as operational teams have been kept distributed over sensitive areas as a precautionary measure.
It stated that 850 agents of various ranks have been mobilized under the command of the Director General of Civil Protection, 6 AT 802 firefighting aircraft and a BE200 aircraft, in addition to civil protection helicopters for firefighting operations. According to the Youm7 website in Cairo,
The intervention teams of the civil protection units of the state of Tizi Ouzou also participated in the firefighting process, with the support of the mobile convoy of the state of Tizi Ouzou, the mobile convoy of the state of Naama, the mobile convoy of the state of El Bayadh, and the regional detachment in Blida.
In the same context, the European Union announced that it had received a request from Greece to help it combat the violent forest fires approaching the northern outskirts of the capital, Athens.
A statement by the European Union - reported by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) yesterday, Monday - stated that the civil protection mechanism was activated at the request of the Greek authorities, noting that four countries responded quickly to the request for assistance and will send firefighting units: Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Romania.
Earlier today, the Greek civil protection authorities issued orders to evacuate several towns in the northeastern suburbs of Athens, which are threatened by violent fires that are increasing due to high temperatures, strong winds and drought.
It is noteworthy that the months of June and July of this year were the hottest months ever in Greece, which also recorded its hottest winter ever.