Tizi Ouzou – A massive fires has ripped through around 300 hectares of forest and urban areas across Algeria’s Kabylie region , killing hundreds of forest wild animals, and injuring several others, apart from damaging hundreds of buildings and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.
“Mountains in Tizi Ouzou, Bejaia and Bouira have been on fire for almost a week. Over 300 hectares of forests were destroyed, thousands of animals were burned to death. It’s terrifying! We’re living a nightmare.” witnesses say.
“From my home, I could only see the huge amount of smoke rising behind the mountains, but the view is already terrifying, the increasing heat is unsupportable, many people, especially elders, are having difficulties to breath.” same witness added.
While the Algerian government contends the fires were started by natural causes or by accident, many local Kabyle residents –Amazigh ethnic group indigenous to Kabylia–, are already pointing fingers at the Algerian regime. For them, it’s hard to imagine that so many fires could be the result of accidents. The location of the fires has also raised suspicions.
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