French military joins large-scale fight against wildfires

About 2,000 servicemen of the French Armed Forces are involved in operations to extinguish wildfires in the country.

As 1news.az reports, this was stated on the BFMTV television channel by Alice Rufo, Minister Delegate at the French Ministry of the Armed Forces.

According to her, about 2,000 more servicemen are in reserve.

Rufo noted that engineering units, in particular, are taking part in fighting the fires.

"New solutions have been applied. The Armed Forces have demonstrated the ability to adapt to the situation: they are using Airbus A400M aircraft and Reaper drones, as well as helicopters, which are involved in fighting the fire," the minister said.

It should be noted that Bombardier 415 amphibious aircraft are usually used to extinguish forest fires in France.

In recent weeks, a number of European countries have faced an unprecedented wave of extreme heat and drought, which have triggered large-scale forest fires. The most difficult situation is developing in the tourist regions of the Mediterranean. The fire has already destroyed thousands of hectares of forest, forced the evacuation of local residents and tourists, and led to human casualties.

Hundreds of firefighting crews and special aviation from several EU countries have been deployed to fight the fires.