Algeria battles intense wildfires amid heatwave

An intense heatwave has fueled nearly 1,000 forest, brush, and vegetation fires across Algeria. The General Directorate of Civil Protection mobilized 19,000 personnel and urgent response aircraft across 45 provinces to battle the blazes.

The devastating fires have resulted in at least one death and forced multiple village and forest evacuations. The extreme heat has also triggered widespread power fluctuations and outages, with national electricity demand surging to record highs. Authorities have issued emergency alerts, recalling civil protection agents and urging residents to strictly avoid fire-affected areas and report any new blazes.