In Pictures: Annual Smog Returns to Southeast Asia

Thick smog is spreading across northern Indonesia, neighboring Singapore and parts of Malaysia this week, reports German news agency Deutsche Welle. The air quality is due to worsen and a number of schools have been forced to close, while airline flights were delayed.

Despite Indonesia's recent clampdown on the use of fires to clear forests in the region, Southeast Asia continues to experience its annual smog problems.

The South China Morning Post reports that the smog is caused by slash-and-burn clearances on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Indonesia's neighbours in the region, Malaysia and Singapore, have also suffered.

Indonesia today deployed 1,600 military personnel to help fight forest and agricultural fires that are responsible for causing the smog, says AFP.

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