Thousands of Indonesians performed rain prayers in fog-laden towns on Sumatra and Borneo islands today as forest fires raged at the height of the dry season, the official Antara news agency reported.
The fires have been raging in parts of Sumatra and Borneo for more than a month and the government has sent 9,000 military, police and disaster agency to put out the blaze.
Indonesia's neighbors have always complained of smoke from their forest fires, which farmers often set themselves up in preparation for planting palm trees and paper-making trees.
But Indonesia said it should not be blamed, and satellites spotted fires in several neighboring countries.
Parts of Southeast Asia have experienced unusually dry weather in the past few months, including Indonesia, which has been hit by extremely poor El Niño weather, according to the Meteorological Department.
Some communities performed rain in the hope of ending the dry season and the associated fog.
Thousands of people in Pekanbaru in Sumatra's Riau province prayed rain in front of the governor's office. Antara said many of them wore smoke-proof masks.
The agency said the rain was held in towns in Kalimantan, where air quality has fallen to levels harmful to health, prompting schools to close.