A fire broke out on Thursday morning, 17 August, in the area overlooking the slopes of Basa (Güçlükonak) on the Gabar Mountain, in the province of Şirnak.

No intervention was made to extinguish the fire, with the result that it quickly spread over a wide area because of the wind.

The fire was advancing towards the cemetery of the village of Bûnisra, which was evacuated in the 1990s.

No explanation was given as to the cause of the fire, but the Turkish army remains the main responsible for the fires in the region. Most of the fires are deliberately started by the military and intervention to extinguish them is not allowed.

In the past years, forest fires broke out due to artillery fire from the Akdizgin gendarmerie station in the village of Zêwê, and a large area was turned into ashes.