{"id":36270,"date":"2023-11-25T17:28:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T17:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war"},"modified":"2023-11-25T17:56:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-25T17:56:18","slug":"soldiers-suffer-from-post-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war","title":{"rendered":"Soldiers suffer from post-war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Lesotho\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cThey had nightmares,\u201d one family member said, adding that some were becoming irritable and harsh when dealing with their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey could rise up and talk at night,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have become violent\u201d.<\/p>\n

A United States-based organisation, Wounded Warrior Project, says in a recent research article, \u201cPTSD is a very common condition for many veterans after military service\u201d.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In another article it says some veterans begin to have PTSD symptoms soon after they return from war. \u201cThese symptoms may last until older age,\u201d the article reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther veterans don\u2019t have PTSD symptoms until later in life,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Lesotho\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He said the situation is likely to worsen after a second contingent recently returned home from its stint in Mozambique. \u201cThey are given counselling for just two days.<\/p>\n

This is not enough,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is normal, there is nothing odd there,\u201d Lt Col Lekola said. Before these returning soldiers could meet their families, they underwent counselling, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are different counsellors in the army,\u201d he said, showing that the counsellors attend to the soldiers spiritually, emotionally and physically.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He said out of 58 villages in the area, only eight were remaining while the rest had been deserted when the insurgents attacked. \u201cFifty villages were either abandoned or burnt down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no life there,\u201d he said. Now they have restored peace and people have come back to their villages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were no essential services because of the fight,\u201d Lt Col Lekola said. He said there were no schools and other social facilities because of the devastating war.<\/p>\n

\u201cFields were no longer being ploughed but now they are planted and harvested,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho\u2019s 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. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":36269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,246,245,253],"class_list":["post-36270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-soldiers"],"yoast_head":"\nSoldiers suffer from post-war - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lesotho\u2019s soldiers who are returning from the war zone in Mozambique are beginning to show serious signs of post-traumat ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Soldiers suffer from post-war\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lesotho\u2019s soldiers who are returning from the war zone in Mozambique are beginning to show serious signs of post-traumat ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-25T17:28:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-25T17:56:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/11\/sm_1700922161.39331.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Soldiers suffer from post-war\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-25T17:28:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-25T17:56:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war\"},\"wordCount\":734,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/11\/sm_1700922161.39331.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"soldiers\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/soldiers-suffer-from-post-war\",\"name\":\"Soldiers suffer from post-war - 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