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A year earlier, at least 42 people were killed in blazes - including 25 soldiers called in to help fight the fires in the mountainous Kabyle region that is dotted with villages.

Bejaia, part of the Berber-speaking Kabyle region east of Algiers, was the hardest-hit area, with 23 deaths since Sunday, the local Soummam Radio reported on Tuesday.

A year earlier, at least 42 people were killed in blazes — including 25 soldiers called in to help fight the fires in the mountainous Kabyle region that is dotted with villages.

A year earlier, authorities said dozens were killed in blazes — including soldiers called in to help fight the fires in the mountainous Kabyle region that is dotted with villages.

Last August, Mr Beldjoud blamed a spate of fires in Algeria's Kabyle region on arson, claiming "only criminal hands" could explain "the simultaneous outbreak of about 50 fires across several localities".