Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho’s soldiers who are returning from the war zone in Mozambique are beginning to show serious signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), thepost heard this week.
Families that spoke to this newspaper this week said they are concerned that the returning soldiers could turn violent and put their loved ones in danger.
Some said when the soldiers were allowed to come back home for a short period six months ago, they were already showing symptoms of PTSD. “They had nightmares,” one family member said, adding that some were becoming irritable and harsh when dealing with their families.
“They could rise up and talk at night,” the source said.
“They have become violent”.
A United States-based organisation, Wounded Warrior Project, says in a recent research article, “PTSD is a very common condition for many veterans after military service”.
It says symptoms can include disturbing thoughts, feelings, or dreams related to the events, mental or physical distress, difficulty sleeping, and changes in how a person thinks and feels.
In another article it says some veterans begin to have PTSD symptoms soon after they return from war. “These symptoms may last until older age,” the article reads.
“Other veterans don’t have PTSD symptoms until later in life,” it says. The article says PTSD symptoms can be high right after their war experience, go down over the years, and then worsen again later in life.
Lesotho’s soldiers were deployed to the Nangade district of Cabo-Delgado Province in Mozambique where they are fighting Islamist rebels. The second contingency deployed to Mozambique returned home last Friday after spending 17 months in the war-torn zone.
The deployed soldiers were given a few weeks off in June this year and came back home to visit their families. Sources said some of the soldiers had developed abnormal behaviour that left their families in distress.
One source said some of the soldiers could stand up and begin to talk alone as if they were still in a war zone. He said it appeared that some of the soldiers were finding it difficult to cope with the traumatic stress.
He said the situation is likely to worsen after a second contingent recently returned home from its stint in Mozambique. “They are given counselling for just two days.
This is not enough,” another family member said. Army spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Sakeng Lekola, said it is normal for soldiers returning from war to deal with post-traumatic stress disorders.
“It is normal, there is nothing odd there,” Lt Col Lekola said. Before these returning soldiers could meet their families, they underwent counselling, he said.
“There are different counsellors in the army,” he said, showing that the counsellors attend to the soldiers spiritually, emotionally and physically.
Lt Col Lekola said the counselling sessions are free. He said the affected soldiers should make use of this provision and come for counselling. Lt Col Lekola said they have not received any reports about soldiers showing abnormal behaviour after returning from Mozambique.
He said the second group spent 17 months in the warzone because of the logistics on the part of SADC and they could not return within the six months as stipulated in their contracts.
Lt Col Lekola said counselling happens almost every time within the army, not only when soldiers are from war. Lesotho deployed the first contingent of soldiers in Mozambique in August 2021.
A third contingent from Lesotho left last week to take over from the second one. However, Lt Col Lekola said their deployment in the region has yielded positive results for the communities in the Nangade district.
He said out of 58 villages in the area, only eight were remaining while the rest had been deserted when the insurgents attacked. “Fifty villages were either abandoned or burnt down,” he said.
“There was no life there,” he said. Now they have restored peace and people have come back to their villages.
“There were no essential services because of the fight,” Lt Col Lekola said. He said there were no schools and other social facilities because of the devastating war.
“Fields were no longer being ploughed but now they are planted and harvested,” he said. Lt Col Lekola said water supply was disrupted and electricity connection cut off. But since their deployment in the area, everything has been restored and returned to normal.
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