Sporadic clashes between Senegalese forces and heavily armed gunmen suspected to be Casamance separatist rebels have broken out near the Gambian border, sources say.
Witnesses reported that a barrage of gunfire rang out and were clearly heard from the direction of the border villages of Gifanga, Jakine in Foñi, causing people to flee.
Some people were reportedly taken hostages by the attackers believed to be MFDC separatists during Monday’s clashes with Senegalese troops near the villages of Kadialock and Kalathiè.
These reports about the hostage situation have not been independently confirmed.
Senegal’s southern province bordering The Gambia known for decades of a separatist conflict, is also notorious for its cannabis farmlands which the Senegalese security forces are tasked with dismantling.
There has been a heavy presence of Senegalese troops in the area since a skirmish last week between government forces and armed men allegedly involved in the farming and trading in the prohibited substance.
Sergeant Nfally Sonko was killed in the fighting which also left six other Senegalese soldiers wounded and several members of the armed group dead.
APA
