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Soldiers, members of a regional peacekeeping force, are “probably being held hostage” by rebels in the Casamance region of Senegal, the army says.
The Senegalese army says nine soldiers serving in a multinational peacekeeping force in Gambia have “disappeared” and were probably held hostage by rebels in the Casamance region of Senegal after a clash.
The announcement on Tuesday said the army had killed two soldiers in the same fight with members of the Movement for Democratic Forces (MFDC) in Casamance and arrived a day later.
One rebel was also killed and three were captured by Senegalese forces in Monday’s fighting, the army said in a statement.
“The nine missing soldiers are probably being held hostage by the MFDC. Operations are underway to find them and secure the area, “he added.
The soldiers were monitoring timber trafficking as part of a peacekeeping mission by ECOMIG, a regional bloc in the Economic Community of West African States.
The MFDC was founded in 1982 to fight for Casamance’s independence.
The move has come to a standstill since the 2014 ceasefire, but since then the Senegalese government has blamed it for the occasional attacks and continues to fund itself through timber traffic between Senegal and Gambia on a three-way border. Senegal.
Following the resignation of former President Yahya Jammeh in January 2017 after the loss of the presidential election, ECOMIG, made up of Senegalese soldiers, was deployed in Gambia.
His duties have continued at the request of President Adama Barrow, despite Jammeh’s exile.
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