Forest fires in EU countries should be considered part of al-Qaida's new strategy, says Russia's top security official

Russia's top security official has alleged that al-Qaida was waging "forest jihad" in Europe by sparking the wildfires that have ravaged the continent in recent summers.

"Forest fires in EU countries should be considered one of the new trends in al-Qaida's 'thousand cuts' strategy," Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, told a security conference in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian news agencies reported.

"This approach allows them to inflict significant damage on the economy and morale without any serious preparation, technical equipment or financial losses," he said.

He cited talk of "forest jihad" on various extremist websites and forums as evidence of the strategy.

Fire outbreaks in forests across Europe have become a yearly phenomenon, often blamed on human negligence. This year tens of thousands of hectares of land were set ablaze across Spain Portugal, the Balkans and southern Europe. Some 2,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Spain last week as strong winds fuelled uncontrollable fires.

Environmentalists quickly dismissed Bortnikov's claim. "There isn't the slightest doubt that the human factor is the cause of the fires in the Mediterranean," Nikolai Shmatkov, a forest expert at the Moscow office of the World Wildlife Fund, told the Interfax news agency. "How involved al-Qaida is in this, how much they need to focus their forces not against the Americans, but against the Greeks and Spaniards, I can't say. I'm sceptical."

Russians also reacted with shock. "And when Russia's forests and peat bogs were burning in 2010, what was that? Also al-Qaida? And this summer in Siberia – was that also part of this 'thousand cuts' strategy?" asked Anton Orekh, a journalist at the liberal radio station, Ekho Moskvy.

While Bortnikov provided no proof, his theory reflects public discussions among Islamic extremists. The summer issue of Inspire, the online propaganda publication run by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula devoted 11 pages to starting forest fires in Nato countries, including instructions. "Fire is one of the soldiers of Allah," it said.

"Imagine that, after all the damage is caused, if a jihad organisation were to take responsibility for the forest fires," it said. "You can imagine the dread it would cause people in the United States, Europe, Russia, and Australia."