Soldiers' families face neglect of Sahel leaders – DW – 08/12/2025
It has been almost two years since Saratou* learned of the death of her son — a young soldier fighting in the Nigerien army. But her pain remains until today.
"There is no solution to death," she told DW in Niger's capital, Niamey, clutching a photo of her late son.
"Our thoughts are always with our deceased."
It was late September 2023, when Saratou learned of her son's death.
There had been an attack on a military unit in Kandadji. At the time, her son, who had been in the army for just seven months, was stationed in this village, located about 200 kilometers (124 miles) northwest of Niamey.
Saratou tried to find out whether he was among the twelve who had been soldiers killed, as social media channels were the only source of information available.
Eventually, its was a friend of her son who confirmed the unimaginable.
Together with her son's newly-pregnant wife, Saratou set off for Kandadji to make the necessary arrangements.
Once there, they quickly discovered that his burial had not yet taken place; however, beyond this information they received no help from the authorities in their darkest hour,
"His wife tried everything to at least see his body, but she was prevented from doing so by those in charge of the Kandadji camp."
In her grief and disappointment, the woman suffered a miscarriage.
Then, their return to Niamey also proved difficult: The two had no money to pay for transport, as the salary of the deceased was yet to be paid.
It was his friends who collected money for their return trip in the end.
Saratou told DW that her son's salary only arrived a week later via money transfer.
To date, no representative of the army or the government has come to see her.
For Seidik Abba, who heads the International Center for Reflection and Studies on the Sahel (CIRES) think tank, Saratou's story is far from an isolated case.
"Families often learn of the death of their loved ones through the media or social media. There is no direct channel or mechanism for informing families at an early stage," Abba told DW.
He contrasted this with the fact that in many other countries, defense ministers or even heads of government themselves offer their condolences to the bereaved.
In 2024, according to the Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel region had become the epicenter of global terrorism, accounting for 3,885 of a total of 7,555 deaths.
However, estimates suggest that the actual number could even be significantly higher, as reliable figures of both civilian and military casualties of terrorism are hard to come by.
The core countries of the western Sahel — Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso — have been under military rule for several years now; Abba says that it should not come as a surprise that these juntas do not want to draw attention to the decline in safety in the region.
"When the military regimes took power, they justified this by citing the deteriorating security," said Abba.
"It is obvious that it would be inappropriate for them to communicate regularly. If every incident were reported, it would give the public the impression that the security situation has not improved."
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Togolese analyst Emery Owolabi agrees that reporting military losses would mean that the military junta would have to acknowledge their failures and shortcomings.
"In times of war, information is controlled. This lack of transparency is also aimed at preventing demobilization or demoralisation of the troops and the population," Owolabi told DW.
"Instead of uniting the population behind its army, this information could lead to division," he added, highlighting that the enormous rate of losses could severely affect morale.
An interview with Niger's Defense Minister Salifou Mody on national television aired in January 2025 appears to confirm the experts' assessment.
Mody decried that both internal and external players, including the media and NGOs, were allegedly using "all means not only to discourage our population and our security forces, but also to convey to the outside world that nothing is working in Niger."
DW meanwhile attempted to secure an interview with Niger's ruling National Council for the Salvation of the Homeland (CNSP) to comment on the ongoing security situation; after sending a written inquiry to its press office with further details, no answer has been received at the time of the writing this article.
Neighboring Burkina Faso is the country with the highest terrorism-related death toll, countring more than 1,500 deaths in 2024 amid a growing displacement crisis throughout the region on top.
Here, junta leader Ibrahim Traoré has made silence his doctrine: According to his strategy, announcing losses in the army and the civilian population would be tantamount to providing propaganda for jihadist groups.
Journalists reporting on these developments in the country also face arrest if they pass on what might be considered inconvenient information.
Heni Nsaibia, a researcher at Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a global organization that collects data on conflicts worldwide, says that this a lack of transparency has resulted in a "war of narratives."
"On the one side, the military authorities present their version of events. On the other side, jihadist groups spread their own carefully crafted accounts," Nsaibia explains.
"The official figures — if published at all — are often incomplete and contradictory," he added, stressing that this approach also applies to Mali, where however the presence of Russian mercenaries and other Russian actors has further exacerbated this opacity.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Some observers however believe that the situation has begun to change, if only slightly.
According to Nigerien political scientist Abdourahmane Alkassoum, Nigerien authorities have become more transparent, particularly in light of pressure following a rise in reports on social media.
He highlights a case similar to that of Saratou: 23-year-old soldier Moussa was killed in the town of Diffa in southeastern Niger in the months following its takeover by Islamist Boko Haram fighters from neighboring Nigeria.
Like, Saratou, his family have also been suffering painful financial consequences from the loss of their son, who according to his mother Habi had been the "foundation of the family," paying for his siblings' school fees, buying food staples like rice, and covering hospital bills for his chronically ill brother.
The family learned of his death in a Boko Haram attack also through a friend of his.
Still, a member of the presidential guard paid them a visit a few weeks later to console them and pledge at least some support for the immediate future: "For several months, they sent us sacks of rice, and we also received a compensation of 300,000 CFA francs (€450 or $530)."
By this time, Moussa's funeral in Diffa had long come and gone. His father later got to watch a video of the burial when he finally managed to visit his son's grave — at his own expense.
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DW
3 days ago
- DW
Soldiers' families face neglect of Sahel leaders – DW – 08/12/2025
The fight against terrorism in the Sahel continues to cost lives. Their military governments appear to cover this up. DW spoke to families in Niger who learned of the deaths of their loved ones — only via social media. It has been almost two years since Saratou* learned of the death of her son — a young soldier fighting in the Nigerien army. But her pain remains until today. "There is no solution to death," she told DW in Niger's capital, Niamey, clutching a photo of her late son. "Our thoughts are always with our deceased." It was late September 2023, when Saratou learned of her son's death. There had been an attack on a military unit in Kandadji. At the time, her son, who had been in the army for just seven months, was stationed in this village, located about 200 kilometers (124 miles) northwest of Niamey. Saratou tried to find out whether he was among the twelve who had been soldiers killed, as social media channels were the only source of information available. Eventually, its was a friend of her son who confirmed the unimaginable. Together with her son's newly-pregnant wife, Saratou set off for Kandadji to make the necessary arrangements. Once there, they quickly discovered that his burial had not yet taken place; however, beyond this information they received no help from the authorities in their darkest hour, "His wife tried everything to at least see his body, but she was prevented from doing so by those in charge of the Kandadji camp." In her grief and disappointment, the woman suffered a miscarriage. Then, their return to Niamey also proved difficult: The two had no money to pay for transport, as the salary of the deceased was yet to be paid. It was his friends who collected money for their return trip in the end. Saratou told DW that her son's salary only arrived a week later via money transfer. To date, no representative of the army or the government has come to see her. For Seidik Abba, who heads the International Center for Reflection and Studies on the Sahel (CIRES) think tank, Saratou's story is far from an isolated case. "Families often learn of the death of their loved ones through the media or social media. There is no direct channel or mechanism for informing families at an early stage," Abba told DW. He contrasted this with the fact that in many other countries, defense ministers or even heads of government themselves offer their condolences to the bereaved. In 2024, according to the Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel region had become the epicenter of global terrorism, accounting for 3,885 of a total of 7,555 deaths. However, estimates suggest that the actual number could even be significantly higher, as reliable figures of both civilian and military casualties of terrorism are hard to come by. The core countries of the western Sahel — Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso — have been under military rule for several years now; Abba says that it should not come as a surprise that these juntas do not want to draw attention to the decline in safety in the region. "When the military regimes took power, they justified this by citing the deteriorating security," said Abba. "It is obvious that it would be inappropriate for them to communicate regularly. If every incident were reported, it would give the public the impression that the security situation has not improved." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Togolese analyst Emery Owolabi agrees that reporting military losses would mean that the military junta would have to acknowledge their failures and shortcomings. "In times of war, information is controlled. This lack of transparency is also aimed at preventing demobilization or demoralisation of the troops and the population," Owolabi told DW. "Instead of uniting the population behind its army, this information could lead to division," he added, highlighting that the enormous rate of losses could severely affect morale. An interview with Niger's Defense Minister Salifou Mody on national television aired in January 2025 appears to confirm the experts' assessment. Mody decried that both internal and external players, including the media and NGOs, were allegedly using "all means not only to discourage our population and our security forces, but also to convey to the outside world that nothing is working in Niger." DW meanwhile attempted to secure an interview with Niger's ruling National Council for the Salvation of the Homeland (CNSP) to comment on the ongoing security situation; after sending a written inquiry to its press office with further details, no answer has been received at the time of the writing this article. Neighboring Burkina Faso is the country with the highest terrorism-related death toll, countring more than 1,500 deaths in 2024 amid a growing displacement crisis throughout the region on top. Here, junta leader Ibrahim Traoré has made silence his doctrine: According to his strategy, announcing losses in the army and the civilian population would be tantamount to providing propaganda for jihadist groups. Journalists reporting on these developments in the country also face arrest if they pass on what might be considered inconvenient information. Heni Nsaibia, a researcher at Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a global organization that collects data on conflicts worldwide, says that this a lack of transparency has resulted in a "war of narratives." "On the one side, the military authorities present their version of events. On the other side, jihadist groups spread their own carefully crafted accounts," Nsaibia explains. "The official figures — if published at all — are often incomplete and contradictory," he added, stressing that this approach also applies to Mali, where however the presence of Russian mercenaries and other Russian actors has further exacerbated this opacity. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Some observers however believe that the situation has begun to change, if only slightly. According to Nigerien political scientist Abdourahmane Alkassoum, Nigerien authorities have become more transparent, particularly in light of pressure following a rise in reports on social media. He highlights a case similar to that of Saratou: 23-year-old soldier Moussa was killed in the town of Diffa in southeastern Niger in the months following its takeover by Islamist Boko Haram fighters from neighboring Nigeria. Like, Saratou, his family have also been suffering painful financial consequences from the loss of their son, who according to his mother Habi had been the "foundation of the family," paying for his siblings' school fees, buying food staples like rice, and covering hospital bills for his chronically ill brother. The family learned of his death in a Boko Haram attack also through a friend of his. Still, a member of the presidential guard paid them a visit a few weeks later to console them and pledge at least some support for the immediate future: "For several months, they sent us sacks of rice, and we also received a compensation of 300,000 CFA francs (€450 or $530)." By this time, Moussa's funeral in Diffa had long come and gone. His father later got to watch a video of the burial when he finally managed to visit his son's grave — at his own expense. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
DW
6 days ago
- DW
After starvation in Gaza, Sudan, refeeding syndrome a risk – DW – 08/09/2025
Even if food aid reaches Gaza, Sudan and other famine zones, complications can arise in malnourished or starving people when they regain access to regular meals. Those complications can be fatal. As of August 8, 197 people, including 96 children, have died of famine in Gaza as a result of Israel's blockade and military offensive, according to Gaza health authorities. UN-backed health monitors have said some 100,000 Palestinian women and children are facing severe malnutrition, and a third of the population of 2.1 million hasn't eaten in days. Gaza isn't the only place where conflicts are driving catastrophic hunger. In Sudan, international agencies claim 3.2 million children under the age of 5 will suffer from acute malnutrition in the next year. People under siege in El Fasher, in North Dafur, have been starving for the past year. In Nigeria, where funding from international donors has been cut, malnutrition has led to the deaths of 625 children in the first six months of 2025. Haiti, Mali and Yemen are among other countries experiencing catastrophic hunger. But treating hunger crises can be more difficult than it seems, and requires more than just a regular supply of healthy food. Health experts have warned that refeeding programs for malnourished people can have fatal complications if done without proper care. "If you reintroduce things quickly, you get a very rapid change of electrolytes and that can cause sudden death," said Marko Kerac, a pediatrician and clinical researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK. That's why a return to proper nutrition needs to be carefully managed, Kerac told DW. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Refeeding syndrome can occur if some malnourished people resume normal eating too quickly. People with kidney failure, eating disorders, depression and alcohol issues are most susceptible to refeeding syndrome. The problem arises after the malnourished body has adapted to reduced nutrition. By slowing its metabolism and organ function to deal with catastrophic hunger, the body is ill equipped to deal with a sudden flood of nutrients. "When you're really [nutritionally] compromised … when you're really sick, that's when the risk of refeeding syndrome happens," said Kerac. The sudden arrival of vitamins and electrolytes like potassium, phosphorus and magnesium can disrupt critical organ processes and lead to arrhythmia — an irregular heartbeat — which can be fatal. Starvation begins when people don't get enough calories to keep up with the body's energy demands. The loss of adequate nutrition denies the body essential materials needed to produce hormones and enzymes that keep the body functioning. To compensate for the calorie deficit, the body slows down metabolic processes and organ activity. In the first two days without food, the body's carbohydrate stores are depleted. After three days, the body starts converting vital fats and proteins into emergency fuel. This is when people begin to experience muscle wasting, severe fatigue and a weakened immune system. Death from starvation occurs most commonly due to an infection the body is too weak to fight, or from organ failure. The first step is to introduce food or nutrition slowly, what Kerac calls "stabilization feeds." This can include things like special milk formulations and ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs). Aid organizations supply RUTFs like Plumpy'Nut, a fortified peanut paste, to help prevent refeeding syndrome in famine regions. "[RUTFs] are paradoxically quite light in nutrients, but are specially formulated. They have low sodium, higher potassium, higher phosphate," said Kerac. RUTFs are designed to deliver essential nutrition specifically for severely malnourished children at a dosage that doesn't overload their bodies and risk refeeding syndrome. A child given three sachets of Plumpy'Nut a day could recover from severe acute malnutrition in eight weeks. "RUTFs [can] prevent refeeding syndrome in settings where you cannot monitor for refeeding syndrome," said Wieger Voskuijl and Hanaa Benjeddi, pediatricians at the Amsterdam University Medical Center who have delivered medical services in conflict zones and refugee camps. Researchers have also looked to other RUTF products that can be prepared closer to African and Asian sites, where rates of food insecurity are highest. These products include ones made from chickpeas, mung beans, maize and lentils, foods grown locally that could potentially help to reduce production costs and allergy risk. Food crisis experts have predicted "widespread death" if action is not taken to alleviate hunger in these regions. The crucial part of supplying food aid to regions of catastrophic hunger is delivering food and RUTFs in the right way by allowing aid services into regions like Gaza and Sudan, Voskuijl and Benjeddi told DW. "The crux and the issue is that preventing refeeding syndrome is almost impossible in settings with high demand and a low amount of health care workers or aid workers," they said. Voskuijl and Benjeddi said governments in famine-hit regions need to prioritize safe conditions for aid agencies to resume their work and prevent a humanitarian crisis. "And that needs international pressure. If we look at Gaza, but also Sudan, these are two governments that are denying such access to malnourished children and pregnant women."
DW
06-08-2025
- DW
US scientists discover trees host up to 1 trillion microbes – DW – 08/06/2025
Healthy trees contain more than one trillion different bacteria, fungi and viruses, a new study has found. These wood microbiomes could hold clues about forest health and climate change. A new study has discovered that trees contain a rich and diverse microbiome inside their tree trunks, much like humans do in our bodies. An average tree contains approximately one trillion microbe cells, according to data acquired from sampling the DNA of 150 trees and published today in the journal . It found that healthy trees contain distinct microbiomes specialized to different parts of the tree and rich in fungi, bacteria, and viruses. The authors believe these could play a vital role in tree health. "Our study shows that each tree species hosts its own distinct microbial community that has evolved alongside the tree," said study co-author Jon Gewirtzman at Yale University, US. Katie Field, a plant biologist at Sheffield University, UK, who was not involved in the research, said the study "helps reredefine how we see trees — not just as standalone organisms, but as complex, integrated ecosystems that include a vast network of microbial life." "In the same way that human microbiomes are important for our health, this work suggests we may need to start thinking similarly about trees. It opens a whole new frontier for environmental microbiology, forest science, and even biotechnology," Field told DW. Microbes are an important part of plant life. The discovery of a 'wood-wide web' — a network that connects fungal filaments and tree roots in underground soil — led to the idea that other organisms aid plant growth and defence against pathogens. But little is known about the microbes living inside healthy wood. "The three trillion trees on Earth represent the world's largest pool of biomass, much of which hosts unique ecosystems we've never studied," said Gewirtzman. The researchers set out to study the microbiomes of trees in the Yale-Myers Forest in Connecticut, US. They took multiple samples from 150 trees across 16 species, including oaks, maples, and pines. Soil samples were also taken. They then extracted DNA from the wood and soil and analysed the data for evidence of DNA from bacteria, fungi, and viruses. They found that trees contain huge numbers of different microbe species — roughly one microbe for every 20 plant cells. This translates to between 100 billion and one trillion microbial cells on average, which is still far fewer than the 39 trillion inside humans. "This study provides some of the clearest evidence to date that the wood of living trees hosts distinct and adapted microbiomes, different to those of the surrounding soil, leaves, or tree roots," said Field. To play this audio please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 audio Microbes weren't equally distributed through the tree — specialized microbial communities existed in different parts of wood. The inner heartwood and outer sapwood contained completely different microbial communities. Denser heartwood was dominated by microbes that don't need oxygen, while the sapwood contained more oxygen-requiring microbes. Different microbiomes were also found in different tree species. Maple trees, for example, contained high abundance of microbes that are adept at breaking down sugars. Further experiments showed that different communities changed gas concentrations inside these woods. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Whether these specialized microbiomes affect the health of their tree hosts is unclear. More studies are needed to understand how microbiomes affect wider forest health, but the authors believe there is a link. "We know that certain microbes promote growth in certain model plants, including in major cereal crops and poplar trees, but there are thousands [of microbes] that we do not know the function of," Gewirtzman told DW via email. The study may also open new questions. For Field, this includes investigating the roles microbiomes play in tree aging, defence and decay. "There is also clear potential to explore whether managing or modifying wood microbiomes could help improve forest resilience or carbon cycling," said Field. Gewirtzman suggests it could also answer big picture questions about how climate change impacts trees, or whether tree microbiomes could be deployed for other purposes. "How will climate change affect these internal ecosystems and forest health? And can we harness these microbes for new forest management or biotechnology applications?" But Michael Köhler, a botanist at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, told DW it's far too early for Gewirtzman's group to start monitoring tree microbiomes to measure climate impacts and forest health. "We're investigating this at the moment — how climate change is affecting the microbiome of seeds and seedlings in grasslands," he told DW.
