Home SOCIETY SENEGAL – End of sweep operations launched in Casamance

SENEGAL – End of sweep operations launched in Casamance

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Militaires sénégalais @lequotidien.sn

The sweep is now complete. Since 30 May 2021, the Senegalese army had pledged to dismantle the rebel bases of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC). A security operation that ended on Monday, June 14, 2021, with the hope of seeing the inhabitants of these localities come back in the grip of the independence rebellion since the 1980s. To everyone’s surprise, there were no casualties according to the Senegalese army. The enemies preferred to flee and abandon their bases under the threat of the “Jambaars” (the valiant: nickname given to the Senegalese army).

The inhabitants of Casamance can now breathe and thank the Senegalese army which combed and secured the area in fifteen days. Since 30 May, rebel bases have been dismantled to allow people to live in peace.Areas such as Ahinda, Badem, Bagam, Bouniack, Djileor were secured by the Senegalese military under the command of Colonel Souleymane Kandé, commander of Military Zone 5. The latter recalled the difficulties faced by the populations under the occupation of armed groups of the MFDC. “A number of abuses have been perpetrated against the populations in this area and the armed gangs are simply seeking to secure exclusive exploitation of forest resources.” ,” he said.

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The military operation went without casualties. According to the Senegalese army, the enemies abandoned their bases despite the resistance sometimes. After an intense clash, the enemy gave up the ground and left behind anti-tank weapons rockets such as the B10, five anti-personnel mines, five AK47, etc.”, said Lieutenant-Colonel Clément Hubert Boucal at the head of the Bravo team, in the Bagam area. This operation aims to strengthen border control with Guinea-Bissau in the south.

Note that Casamance, separated from northern Senegal by the Gambia, is the scene of one of the oldest conflicts in Africa since the independence movement, organized in a movement called MFDC, took up arms to demand independence after the repression of a march in December 1982. The conflict has claimed thousands of lives, not to mention its impact on the national economy. The clashes intensified in 2018 with the massacre of 14 men by rebels in Ziguinchor, in the Bofa-Bayotte forest.

       

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