From the Archives: World Press Photo contest 2022
Sergeant Stéphane, a commander in the Regiment of Intervention Forces (RFI) takes a fighting pose in Betroka, southern Madagascar, on 20 February 2013. The RFI operates against cattle raiders in the Betroka region and the Andriry mountains.
For decades, the rural population of southern and western Madagascar have faced violence and the daily theft of their zebu, highly prized humped cattle, by groups of men called dahalo (which roughly translates as 'bandits'). Zebu are used in dowry payments, rituals, and are much valued for their meat. Since the 1970s, mounting economic inequality and a food crisis exacerbated zebu theft and violence, with frequent deadly clashes between rural communities and groups of dahalo. Government intervention against zebu theft has been harsh, and in 2014, Amnesty International accused Malagasy security forces of indiscriminate acts of violence