More than 1,000 soldiers were being deployed on Indonesia’s Sumatra island to fight forest fires, an official said today.

Thick smog from the forest fires returned to Sumatra's Riau province today after rain brought a respite, said Sutopo Nugroho, spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Agency.

At least 1,050 soldiers were being deployed in South Sumatra and Jambi, two provinces on Sumatra worst hit by the haze, Sutopo said.

“The haze problem has created widespread problems, from health to financial losses,” said Sutopo.

He said more than 22,000 people had suffered from respiratory problems in South Sumatra alone.

Six provinces on Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo island have declared haze emergencies.

The government said it was doing all it could to stop the fires, including deploying aircraft to create artificial rain and drop water.

The haze from Indonesia has also travelled to Malaysia and southern Thailand and Singapore.

Singapore has registered its “deep concern” with Indonesia after the city state’s pollutant standard index reached “very unhealthy” levels yesterday, the Straits Times reported.

The practice of open burning to clear land is illegal, but common, in Indonesia.

The government has warned that the El Nino weather phenomenon, which is expected to last until October, would result in an extended dry spell and more forest fires in the country.

The Agriculture Ministry has predicted that El Nino could damage 200,000 hectares of rice fields, or about 1-2 million tonnes of rice crops.

- dpa