QAMISHLI - Someone is setting Syria's crops on fire and there are several suspects: the Islamic State (IS), Syrian regime forces, and/or Turkey and its allied fighters. The problem is especially severe in Rojava, the Kurdish autonomous administration area in northeast Syria, also known as Syrian Kurdistan.

On June 1, a military official from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Turkey, IS sleeper cells and the Syrian government are all responsible for burning Kurdish crops.

“The fires that have ravaged thousands of dunams of wheat, barley and lentil crops in the Kurdish self-administration areas were planned and executed by the intelligence [sectors] of Turkey and the Syrian regime, along with IS sleeper cells. They aim to incite people against the Kurdish self-administration, create chaos and provoke sectarian strife between Arabs and Kurds, particularly in Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Manbij,” the official said.

He added, “Rapid intervention forces in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor arrested a number of people after receiving information that they had been setting fire to large areas of agricultural land. Interrogations revealed that they had contact with Syrian and Turkish intelligence.”