Scorched earth
A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy while it is advancing through or withdrawing from a location. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, for example food sources, water supplies, transportation, communications, industrial resources, and even the locale's people themselves.
Scorched earth
During the Gulf War in 1990 when Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait, they set more than 600 Kuwaiti oil wells on fire. This was done as part of a scorched-earth policy while retreating from Kuwait in 1991 after invading the country but being driven out by Coalition military forces ("see Gulf War"). The fires were started between January to February 1991 and the last one was extinguished by November 1991.