Arson attacks destroy thousands of acres of agricultural land in Iraq

The Iraqi Civil Defence Directorate has reported that as many as 328 fires erupted on agricultural land from 8 May to 24 June, covering an area of 13,500 acres. The directorate added that a further 600,000 acres had been saved by civil defence teams.

The fires erupted in the governorates of Nineveh, Diyala, Salah Al-Din, Kirkuk, Anbar, Najaf and Karbala. The largest area affected by the flames was in the province of Nineveh, in the north of Iraq, where 10,000 acres of agricultural land was destroyed.

According to the Civil Defence authorities, as many as 41 out of 321 fires targeting agricultural land were acts of arson and started deliberately. Just over 100 are still under investigation, while another 34 were caused by faulty farm machinery.

An adviser to the Agricultural Committee of the Iraqi Parliament, Adil Mukhtar, told Anadolu news agency that the fact that the harvest is ongoing in Nineveh is a major issue. Other provinces, such as Diyala, he pointed out, have finished the harvest already. Ten farmers were killed by the fires, he added, and at least 40 have been injured. Farm machinery has also been destroyed.

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