Damascus, Oct 10 (IANS): Fresh wildfires have erupted in the forests of central and northwestern Syria, with continued efforts by firefighters to contain the raging blazes.

The fires, which broke out on Thursday midnight, raged in the countryside of Homs province, as well as in the coastal provinces of Tartous and Latakia, Xinhua news agency reported

The fires have already scorched large swathes of agricultural and forest areas in the affected areas and prompted evacuations, while two people have lost their lives.

Several people were also hospitalized due to breathing difficulties.

Firefighters are having a hard time controlling the new blazes due to the strong winds and the lack of roads between agricultural areas as well as the geographic nature of the territories, according to Samir Shamma, the head of the fire crews in Tartous.

Cited by state SANA news agency, Shamma said the tough situation has pushed the Syrian army to intervene to help put out the fires.

"The situation is hard and we are earnestly trying to control the fires within the available capacity," he said.

In Latakia, the fires have devoured hundreds of citrus and olive trees in addition to wide areas of the natural forests, SANA said.

Prime Minister Hussein Arnous on Friday instructed all concerned Ministries , firefighting teams, and civil defence units to provide support and assistance in putting out the fires.

The new fires come a month after wildfires gutted 7 square km in the countryside of Masyaf area in Hama province.