Anti-tank Mine Kills Four Soldiers in Senegal’s Casamance

Four Senegalese soldiers were killed when their vehicle ran over an anti-tank mine in the southern region of Casamance, where separatist rebels operate, the army said on Friday.

Three others were wounded in the explosion, which occurred on Thursday in Nord Bignona, near the border with Gambia, the army’s public relations unit said on X, formerly Twitter.

It gave no further details on the incident when asked by AFP.

The army has for several months been carrying out security operations against separatist rebels of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), who want independence for the region that also borders Guinea-Bissau.

One of Africa’s oldest active rebellions, the MFDC has led a low-intensity separatist campaign since 1982 that has claimed several thousand lives.

The conflict was mostly dormant until Senegal launched a major offensive in 2021 to drive out the rebels.

Casamance, Senegal’s southernmost region, is almost separated from the rest of the country by the tiny state of Gambia.

It has a distinct culture and language derived from its past as a former Portuguese colony.

Senegal’s President Macky Sall has said that ending the rebellion is a priority, and in recent years the government has begun returning Casamance residents displaced by the conflict after announcing the destruction of several rebel bases.