At least 65 people have been killed in wildfires that erupted in Algeria, according to state television reports.

Officials said the number included 25 soldiers killed trying to save residents.

The fires have been ravaging forests and villages in east of the capital, Algiers, in the Kabyle region, covering the mountainous area with thick clouds of smoke.

Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane told state television that the blazes appeared to be "highly synchronized", adding that it leads one to believe these were criminal acts.

He called on the international community to help and said the government was in talks with partners to hire planes to extinguish fires.

The region without water-dumping aircraft, has Firefighters and the army still trying to contain the blazes.

Meanwhile, Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune via tweet confirmed that soldiers have saved more than 100 poeple from the blazes in the two areas of the mountainous region.

The Kabyle region, which is situated 60 miles (100km) east of Algeria's capital of Algiers, is dotted with difficult-to-access villages.