As fighting picks up around the outskirts of Syria’s Idlib Province, one
of the area’s most important aspects, it’s farmland, is being destroyed
in fires, taking out vital crops, olive groves and orchards.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is accusing the military campaign in the
area of turning food supplies into a weapon of war. It’s not clear who
is setting the fires, however, or if they are deliberate.
Both the Syrian military and al-Qaeda are blaming one another for the
fires, and there are a lot of displaced civilians who were forced out of
the farmland by fighting. Recovery in those areas could take many
years, and could make food scarce in the area in the meanwhile.
This is a problem anyplace that war damages food production, but
potentially even worse in Idlib, where the realities of the war and
evacuations have left large numbers of civilians from around the country
relocated into this single province.
Farmlands Burn as Fighting Rages in North Syria; Both Sides Trade Blame
WFP accuses fighters of turning food supplies into a 'weapon of war'
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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