All posts tagged: Terror & Security

Landmines from Afghanistan’s war are still killing civilians – including children

Landmines from Afghanistan’s war are still killing civilians – including children

Published by Sam Flores

The biggest challenge at the moment for civilians is the unexploded ordnance lying on the ground, not marked minefields. “What was once a battlefield is now somebody’s orchard, or their route to school, or a ditch by a road or a hillside, these are the places killing people now.” While coalition forces did not lay any mines in Afghanistan, many Afghans are still being killed and injured by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted and left by the Taliban. “The Taliban laid IEDs to target Nato and Afghan forces,” he said. “So areas where Nato operated, especially Helmand, are heavily contaminated with IED mines. That clearance work is still ongoing.” Mines and unexploded ordnance have killed an estimated 40,000 people in Afghanistan since 1979, according to the UN. Yet the clearance effort has slowed in recent years amid funding shortages – the mine action workforce has shrunk from about 15,000 people in 2011 to just 1,100 today. “Afghanistan is no longer high on the list of humanitarian priorities,” Mr Pond said. “That’s the reality. But the …

Trump’s Board of Peace signals a new world order. Gaza is its first test

Trump’s Board of Peace signals a new world order. Gaza is its first test

Published by Sam Flores

“Obviously the explosions haven’t stopped,” she added, “there are still constant violations of the ceasefire and more than 110 children have been killed.” Palestinians living in Gaza have continued to experience strikes, food shortages and now, freezing winter conditions.  “[The weather in Gaza] is absolutely horrible. It’s wet, it’s cold. The wind rips through because you’re on the coast,” said Ms Ingram. In an effort to escape the conditions, many families are being forced to resort to the unstable shells of bombed buildings for shelter.  “It’s an impossible choice for a parent: Do you stay in an inadequate makeshift shelter or a tent – we know that 10 babies have died from hypothermia this winter – or do you try to find some semblance of a building knowing that it can crash down around you?” Despite reports on Israeli restrictions of aid into Gaza, Unicef have managed to make some progress, bringing in an average of approximately 300 per cent more pallets in than before the ceasefire. “We’ve brought in almost a million blankets, 300,000 sets …

Detainees describe the horror of Maduro’s ‘torture prisons’

Detainees describe the horror of Maduro’s ‘torture prisons’

Published by Sam Flores

During interrogations, Mr Merino says, guards tried to force him to confess to a “script” they had prepared in advance. “The guards at Tocorón, and the regime they worked for, were malevolent,” he says. “They enjoyed every act of torture they inflicted. They enjoyed the suffering of their Venezuelan brothers and sisters.” Sexual violence, he says, was systematic. “The guards demanded favours in exchange for an extra plate or a glass of water. These weren’t favours of good behaviour; they were sexual favours,” he says. “One of the guards became infatuated with one of the boys, and on the nights he made his rounds, he would grab him and force him to perform oral sex.” Human Rights Watch has documented what it calls “the extensive use of torture” in Venezuelan prisons. “Constant beatings, electric shocks during interrogations, prolonged isolation in dark spaces without access to light,” said Juanita Goebertus Estrada, the group’s Americas director. In March 2025, a United Nations fact-finding mission concluded that the Venezuelan government had committed acts “constituting the crime against humanity …

Putin targets migrant smuggling networks to boost his ranks

Putin targets migrant smuggling networks to boost his ranks

Published by Sam Flores

Emmanuel had already tried to improve his life once before by following the well-trodden migrant route from Africa to Europe, only to get sent back from Italy. Returning to his native Cameroon in West Africa, he again found himself jobless, only this time his family was now in debt for his failed European trip. Dreams of escaping abroad are commonplace in a country where half the population is under 20 and unemployment in major cities is 35 per cent. Polling has found 51 per cent of Cameroonians have considered emigrating and this desperation has created a lucrative industry of travel agencies, visa wranglers, middlemen and fixers touting their business on social media. Scammers and con artists abound, and exploitation is rife. The picture is similar in many countries in Africa and beyond wherever migration is big business. When Emmanuel, who declined to give his real name, saw a chance to get back to Europe, this time with a job in Russia, he leapt at it. The job ads said he would be working with the …

Why Beijing is propping up Myanmar’s brutal junta

Why Beijing is propping up Myanmar’s brutal junta

Published by Sam Flores

“ What’s at stake in this election for the military is its credibility as the leader going forward,” Joe Freeman, Myanmar researcher for Amnesty International told the Battle Lines: Global Health Security podcast.  The purpose of the  election, he said, “is to create kind of an off-ramp from this five years of military rule and show the international community that it’s ready to lead as a responsible civilian government. Of course, that’s all a mirage.” The election, which concludes this week, is not just a veneer of democracy for Myanmar but also a bid by the Chinese to ensure one of its closest neighbours remains stable.  Myanmar shares a 1,300 mile border with China, providing an important link for Beijing to the Indian Ocean. Many note the irony of China, a one party state, supporting a supposedly multi-party election. Beijing sent election monitors and provided technological assistance and funding so that the junta can compile voter lists. “ China will do what is in its interest at the end of the day. We seem to be returning …

How 11 doctors survived the siege of El Fasher

How 11 doctors survived the siege of El Fasher

Published by Sam Flores

By sunrise, Dr Ibrahim was among a smaller group of 15 people – including Dr Khattab, seven civilians and six Sudanese Armed Forces soldiers. Exposed in the daylight, they were soon captured by RSF fighters who chased them down on camels and motorbikes. Two armed soldiers were executed immediately in front of the group. The remaining four were killed later, after confessing to being in the army. “When I was abducted, I did not think I would live to see another day….I hoped only for a quick death,” Dr Ibrahim said. He was bound, his hands pulled over his head, and tied to a tree, where he was forced to stand under the sun. In the two days they held him there he was given water only once. At one point, he was ordered to use an RSF fighter’s phone to contact his father on Facebook. Over a video call, his father negotiated a ransom down from 50 million Sudanese pounds, about $14,000, to 15 million Sudanese pounds, roughly $4,200. After the payment was made, …

Boiled pangolin for lunch? The rampant trade that could spark a new pandemic

Boiled pangolin for lunch? The rampant trade that could spark a new pandemic

Published by Sam Flores

According to a paper in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, pangolins have fewer interferon receptors than humans and other mammals. This means their innate immune response does not go into an inflammation overdrive as soon as they’re infected, contributing to a “switch from resistance to tolerance of viral infections”. “Pangolins have an unusual immune system and appear to lack parts of certain innate antiviral pathways,” said Dr Filip Claes, head of the Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. “In practical terms, this likely means they mount a less rapid or less inflammatory early response to some viral infections. That may allow certain viruses to persist longer without causing severe disease.” But he stressed that this tolerance is far lower than in bats – one review published in 2024 found the flying mammals host over 4,100 distinct viruses, including deadly pathogens like Ebola, Nipah and Sars. This is because bats’ immune system has been suppressed, partly because of the stress physiology of flying, which allows them to co-exist with …

Aid groups urge Britain to act now on Sudan

Aid groups urge Britain to act now on Sudan

Published by Sam Flores

In the end, the conference’s final statement did not mention Zamzam or Darfur, leading some campaigners and aid groups to believe that the massacre was being sidelined deliberately. In the wake of the conference, Mr Lammy stressed that the key barrier to ending the war was not a lack of funding or UN mechanisms, but a lack of political will. Activists and experts have accused the UK of lacking influence and ambition in Sudan, arguing that its efforts are being stymied by its close economic and political ties to the UAE. But Dr Kate Ferguson, co-executive director of Protection Approaches and an expert on preventing mass violence, rejected suggestions that the UK lacks influence and said it should focus its effort on protecting civilians. “There are so many things the UK can do, and moments where it has indeed stepped forward. It can take just a couple of extra degrees of leadership to galvanise momentum. But leadership and pressure need to be consistent,” she said. “Civilian protection and atrocity prevention are political efforts that require …

The injured Ukrainian soldiers taking up tattooing as a form of therapy

The injured Ukrainian soldiers taking up tattooing as a form of therapy

Published by Sam Flores

In December 2023, while fighting in unfamiliar terrain in Donetsk, Mr Samus stepped on a landmine which blew off his right leg. Nine surgeries later, he was fitted with a prosthetic. It took him nearly seven months to learn how to walk again. “The rehabilitation went better than I expected,” he recalls. “But there was still the question of what I would do after.” After nearly four years of war, Ukraine’s government lacks both the manpower and resources to support many wounded veterans as they transition back to civilian life. Mr Samus was keen to get going as a tattoo artist, but lacked a diploma and equipment. He was also mindful of the health risks that come with tattooing. “You need a clean environment [to tattoo] – it’s a big responsibility.” ‘I feel like I’m coming back to civilian life’ Research has shown that tattooing, particularly when done in informal settings, can be associated with increased risk of hepatitis infections. Unsafe practices including the use of unsterilised needles or contaminated ink, also raise the risk …

Why China is forcing Myanmar’s brutal junta to stage a pantomime election

Why China is forcing Myanmar’s brutal junta to stage a pantomime election

Published by Sam Flores

Mr Horsey agreed: “Yet again, as it has for 80 years, the military has found a way to hang on and remain in the driver’s seat”. China has been “pushing the regime to proceed with the polls without further delay,” he added. After the first round of voting on December 28, the junta claimed a turnout of 50 per cent, compared to around 70 per cent in 2020. The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party – seen as a proxy for the junta – said it won 80 per cent of seats. Among those willing to speak to the Telegraph, there was a sense of fear and weariness. Those who took part said they did so because there were no other options. “Some people like me will vote because we are tired of fear and uncertainty,” said one 56-year-old man. “Even if we don’t trust the system fully, we hope voting might bring some stability, or at least stop things from getting worse. For me, voting is not about believing in the election, but about …