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A Senegalese military official said on Tuesday (January 17) that one soldier had been killed and four wounded during an operation against separatist rebels in the southern Casamance region.
A soldier died on Monday (January 16) in the BiƱona region, where the army has been conducting operations in recent weeks to thwart an attempt by the Movement for the Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) to set up new bases near the border. . The Gambia, reports suggested.
The southernmost region of Senegal, Casamance is largely separated from the rest of the country by the small province of Gambia.
At the time of the incident, the Senegalese army destroyed hemp fields, according to local media.
The MFDC, which has been campaigning to secede since 1982, signed a peace deal with the government last August, hailed as a first step towards a permanent end to Africa’s oldest active insurgency. .
Senegalese President Macky Sall has said ending the rebellion is a priority, and in recent years the government has begun the return of Casamance residents displaced by the conflict.
Officials also accused the rebels of operating an illegal trade in cannabis and timber and seeking refuge in Gambia or Guinea-Bissau in the south.
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