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DW
4 days ago
- Health
- 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
India Today
24-06-2025
- Science
- India Today
Wildfires contaminate water quality for nearly a decade after the blaze
A new study has revealed that the legacy of wildfires extends far beyond the immediate devastation, with contaminants from burned forests and watersheds continuing to pollute rivers and streams for up to eight years after the flames are research, published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, is the first large-scale assessment of post-wildfire water quality and analyzed over 1,00,000 water samples from more than 500 watersheds across the by scientists from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder, the study based on wildfires in the United States, found significant increases in organic carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment in rivers following the blazes. These contaminants can degrade water quality, posing challenges for water treatment facilities and threatening the drinking water supply for millions of people in downstream communities. Researchers have long known that fire ash and soil destruction contribute to degraded water quality. (Photo: AP) 'We were attempting to look at notable trends in post-wildfire water quality across the entire U.S. West, to help inform water management strategies in preparing for wildfire effects,' said Carli Brucker, the study's lead results showed that while the most dramatic spikes in contaminants occur in the first one to five years after a fire, elevated nitrogen and sediment levels can persist for up to eight study also found that the impact of wildfires on water quality is highly variable, depending on factors such as the proximity of the fire to rivers, the type of soil and vegetation, and local weather patterns. In some cases, sediment levels in streams were up to 2,000 times higher than before the fire, severely straining water treatment wildfires increasing in size and frequency due to drought and climate change, the findings underscore the need for long-term planning and resilience in water management.'You can't fund resilience improvements on general concerns alone. Water managers need real numbers for planning, and that's what we're providing,' Brucker the American West faces mounting wildfire risks, researchers hope their data will help communities better prepare for the prolonged environmental impacts that follow in the wake of fire.- EndsMust Watch
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Texas, Oklahoma among states at risk for flooding into next week
More rounds of rain through early May could trigger flooding across parts of the southern Plains already drenched by recent storms. Rainfall will also occur in some locations that need moisture due to ongoing drought, AccuWeather meteorologists say. Parts of Oklahoma have picked up as much as 5 inches of rain since Monday, while 1-2 inches have fallen across portions of northern Texas through early Wednesday. Short-term rain, flooding risk As the first round of rain continues, up to a few inches of additional rain can fall across portions of north-central and northeastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and parts of southwestern Arkansas and northeastern Louisiana. Where inches of rain have already saturated the soil, the most significant risk of flash flooding is in low-lying areas and small streams as well as flooding on Red River tributaries. While the rain is forecast to retreat to the southeast Thursday, another cluster of downpours and severe thunderstorms will drop southeastward across the southern Plains from Thursday night to Friday. This batch of thunderstorms can bring rain to areas largely missed by downpours this week. However, more rain will fall on saturated soil in parts of Oklahoma and Texas, which can bring a new surge of high water to area streams and secondary rivers. After a quiet weekend without downpours and thunderstorms, the atmosphere will reload farther west by early next week. Long-term rain, flooding risk "The troublemaker will be a large storm at the jet stream level of the atmosphere over the Southwest states," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek said, "These upper-level storms are very challenging to be precise with several days in advance."Have the app? Unlock AccuWeather Alerts™ with Premium+ A lack of weather data from high levels in the atmosphere as opposed to the plethora of ground-level reporting sites issuing weather data may be a contributor. Weather balloons that carry instruments to measure temperature, humidity, wind and pressure help to fill some of that gap. That data is then fed into various computer models, which are state-of-the-art tools for meteorologists. April 27, 2017: CIRES scientist Patrick Cullis releases a weather balloon carrying an ozonesonde from NOAA's Marshall Mesa on the 50th anniversary of the first ozonesonde launch from the research site near Boulder, Colorado, in 1967. (Image credit: Theo Stein/NOAA) Based on the latest available information, AccuWeather meteorologists believe that a large storm at the jet stream level of the atmosphere will set up over the Southwest and tap moisture from the Gulf. The result will be an uptick in showers and thunderstorms from Arizona to New Mexico, Colorado and the western portions of the southern Plains by early next week. The downpours may linger over the same zone for days or progress eastward over the southern Plains. Should the moist zone stall, beneficial rain in drought areas of the High Plains may evolve into a flooding event. If the moist corridor shifts farther east, it could bring another round of flooding rainfall to areas already hit hard by flooding this week. Where rainfall from this week's events and next week's events overlap, cumulative totals could top 10 inches, which is the equivalent of two to three months' worth of rain in some locations. Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
