Nine Senegalese soldiers from the West African mission in Gambia have been missing since Monday and are believed to be held captive by Casamance rebels following clashes during an operation against timber trafficking
The Senegalese army in a statment on Tuesday said that the nine soldiers “would probably be held hostage by the MFDC”, the armed rebellion that is fighting for independence in Casamance, a region in southern Senegal bordering Gambia.
It added that Operations are continuing to find them and secure the area.
The Senegalese army announced on Monday the death of two of its soldiers, a junior officer and a senior soldier, in clashes on the same day with suspected rebels in western Gambia, a country partly landlocked by Senegal and home to rebels of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC).
In the course of clashes following a vigorous military action, one rebel was killed and three others were taken prisoner,” the army said in a statement on Tuesday.
The clashes with suspected rebels occurred “as part of an action to secure and fight against illegal trafficking, particularly against the criminal exploitation of timber on the border with Gambia,” it said Tuesday.
Five Senegalese soldiers were captured by MFDC rebels in December 2011 during an attack on a military cantonment in the town of Kabeum, 60 km northwest of Ziguinchor, the main town in Casamance.
They were released in December 2012 following mediation by the Catholic community Sant’Egidio.
Senegalese forces provide the bulk of Ecomig’s strength of several hundred troops. Ecomig’s mandate has been extended several times.
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