Mysterious fires have been raging in western Iraq and parts of Syria, ruining harvests amid conflicting reports about what triggered the blazes and the parties that stood behind them.
In Syria, the fires have been caused by balloons, airstrikes and missiles. However, there is one objective: ruining people’s harvests as a retaliation against farmers or residents, or as an attempt by “war profiteers” to import crops from outside the country.
Experts have estimated that more than 2,000 fires have been raging in fields, depriving them of valuable crops, particularly east of the Euphrates, and the battle zones in the north of Hama and south of Idlib.
The Syrian regime says that fires had affected 3,600 acres of barley fields and 30,000 acres of farmland in Hassakeh, Raqqa, all the way to Aleppo province to the west.
Syrian sources said parties seeking to prevent farmers from selling their harvests to the Syrian government have caused the fires.
Some blame the Kurdish-self administration in eastern Syria to stop the harvests from reaching the regime, which sets the price of one kilogram of wheat at 185 Syrian liras, 35 liras higher than the price set by the administration.
Others blame ISIS militants seeking to avenge their territorial losses in Syria and Iraq or Syrian regime forces battling to rout other armed groups and undermine the Kurdish-led administration, which now operates independently of the central government.
Despite the exchange of blame, farmers are being deprived of valuable crops.
Some sources said farmers have been left with the burden of battling raging fires with pieces of cloth, sacks and water trucks.
In Iraq, thousands of acres of wheat and barley golden fields have been scorched by the fires before the harvest season.
Official authorities swing the load of responsibility between ISIS, personal disputes or negligence.
According to the UN, the fires are threatening to disrupt normal food production cycles and potentially reduce food security for months to come.
