Algeria battles wildfires with 2 French firefighter planes

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria’s president says five firefighting planes sent by European countries are expected by Saturday to help the country battle wildfires that already have killed at least 69 people through the mountainous Berber region. Algeria is facing a heat wave like the ones fueling fires in Southern Europe. Two French water-dropping airplanes joined the effort to tame the fires in the Kabyle region after Algeria appealed Wednesday to the European Union Civil Protection framework for help. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said two other planes from Spain are expected on Friday and another from Switzerland on Saturday. Tebboune acknowledged that Algerian means were “insufficient given the multitude of fires.”