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
At first, the forests were burnt by premeditated arson, but once the Assad loyalists withdrew from those areas, they relied on artillery fire to burn the forests. Environmental damage is said to take up to 80 years for full recovery.