Syria executes 24 people over deadly forest fires

FILE PHOTO: A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. Picture taken October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria executed 24 people it said had set fires that swept swathes of forests mainly in the coastal province of Latakia, the ancestral home of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, the justice ministry said on Thursday .

Those executed on Wednesday were charged with committing "terrorist acts that led to death and damage to state infrastructure, public and private property," the ministry said.