Tunisian wildfires expose failing infrastructure, community vulnerabilities

Sakiet Sidi Youssef, Tunisia – Smoke still lingers over the blackened hills surrounding the village of el-Gol near the town of Sakiet Sidi Youssef in Tunisia’s mountainous Kef governorate, days after one of the worst wildfires to hit the region this summer.Standing outside the charred remains of his farm near the Algerian border, 70-year-old Mongi Abdeli struggles to put into words the scale of what has been lost.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Tunisia’s body politic is in crisislist 2 of 3Five years after Saied’s power grab, Tunisians are no better offlist 3 of 3Tunisians mark fifth year of emergency rule with calls for Saied to goend of listThe wildfire killed 10 of his sheep while two more died the following day from smoke inhalation. It also destroyed his beehives, more than 100 olive trees and every almond tree on his land.“The fire was scorching … and came from every direction,” Abdeli told Al Jazeera. “They kept telling us there was no water to extinguish it. All they could do was evacuate us.”Some of his flock managed to escape into the surrounding hills, but Abdeli said he now has little means to keep them alive.“What are we going to feed them now?” he asked....