Farmer Issa al-Moussa walks among his damaged wheat crop in eastern Syria after the nearby Euphrates River flooded in recent days due to heavy rainfall and increased flows from Turkey.Syrian authorities have said the country was experiencing an "exceptional" rise in water levels along the Euphrates River, which originates in Turkey and flows through the Raqa and Deir Ezzor provinces before reaching neighbouring Iraq.

Syrian authorities opened dam spillways for the first time in three decades as rising Euphrates waters displaced thousands across eastern Syria.

The area affected is sensitive politically and economically