Senegal: The Gambia Mission Claims 2 Soldiers’ Lives, 9 MIA

A west African peacekeeping mission in The Gambia has claimed the lives of two Senegalese soldiers, and left nine friendly troops missing.

The troops were part of a regional joint-operation deployed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), that has been mostly fighting the Movement of Democratic Forces for Casamance (MDFC) for the past five years.

On Tuesday, 25 January, Senegal’s military announced the news that two soldiers were fatally wounded during an attack, with one rebel casualty recorded the day before.

They added: “The nine missing soldiers are probably held hostage by the MDFC. Operations are ongoing to find them and secure the zone.”

The MDFC have made their home base in The Gambia – specifically in a strip of territory in the south of the country – and consists of the Jola ethnic group that has been fighting for an independent Casamance since 1982.

Despite being mostly inactive since a ceasefire agreement was penned in 2014, the Senegalese government continues to blame the rebels for mishaps in the country.

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