The seven Senegalese soldiers, taken hostage since 24 January by Casamance rebels, were released on Monday 14 February, APA has learnt from media sources.
Salif Sadio has kept his word. Several newspapers announced on Monday that the leader of one of the armed branches of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MDFC), a rebellion in southern Senegal, which has lasted for four decades, promised to release today these Senegalese soldiers who are members of the West African Mission in Gambia (Ecomig). The Senegalese website Emedia reports that the hostages were released “after a ceremony under heavy guard.”
“The convoy has just left for the Gambian capital, accompanied by the delegation from the Gambia composed of mediators from the St. Egidio Community, the International Red Cross and the Ecowas Mission in the Gambia (MICEGA). However, their bulletproof vests, helmets and watches were eventually confiscated by the MFDC, as well as their ammunition and weapons seized. Salif Sadio’s representative, Pape Sane, in charge of MFDC operations, said he had seized these weapons and personal effects to send a message to Senegal,” Emedia reports.
In a video of him talking to journalists that has been circulating on social networks, the rebel leader said that Senegalese soldiers from the Gambia had crossed the border and attacked his bases in Casamance. He reported that the MFDC had returned to Ecomig the remains of four Senegalese soldiers killed at the end of the clashes on January 24 in the Gambia, a country partially landlocked by Senegal.
The fighting with the rebels occurred “as part of an action to secure and fight against illegal trafficking, particularly against the criminal exploitation of wood on the border with Gambia,” the Senegalese army said in a statement.
Casamance has been the scene of one of the oldest conflicts in Africa since independence fighters took to the streets after the repression of a march in December 1982. After claiming thousands of lives and devastating the economy, the conflict has persisted at low intensity. Senegal is working to normalize the situation and is resettling the displaced.
Ecomig was established by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) in response to the political crisis that arose from the refusal of former Gambian president and dictator, Yahya Jammeh to step down after his defeat in the December 2016 presidential election. Mr. Jammeh was finally forced into exile in January 2017 by international pressure and the entry of Senegalese troops on Gambian soil.
Senegalese forces provide the bulk of Ecomig’s strength of several hundred troops. Ecomig’s mandate has been extended several times.
ODL/cgd/fss/abj/APA