Gambians flee border zone amid Senegalese anti-rebel operation

Dozens of Gambians have fled border villages, fearing for their safety after the army in the neighbouring West African country of Senegal launched an operation against separatist rebels this weekend.

On Sunday, Senegal announced a military operation in the southern region of Casamance, aiming to dismantle bases belonging to the separatist MFDC group.

The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) has led a low-intensity conflict in Casamance since 1982 that has claimed several thousand lives.

The southern region is separated geographically from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia, a tiny country that surrounds a river of the same name.

Women displaced by the fighting prepare food. By MUHAMADOU BITTAYE (AFP)

With recent fighting in Casamance, frightened residents in Gambian border villages have begun to flee, describing bush fires and the sound of the shooting.

"We have never experienced such a dire situation," said Ismaila Bojang, who had fled to the village of Bujinha about five kilometres (three miles) from the border.

Bojang, a traditional chief of the border village of Karrol, said that the conflict had ignited fires in the bush and killed and scattered livestock.

"We are here but our minds are on Karrol," he said, sitting on a woven mat.

Map of Senegal locating region of Casamance. By Tupac POINTU (AFP)

Another resident of the same village, Tuti Jammeh, said that some had fled Karrol barefoot and were now sleeping several to a bed in Bujinha.

"We heard gunfire and we had to leave," she told AFP, adding that she would likely move further inland because she could still hear shooting.

The numbers of people who have been displaced in The Gambia is unclear.

However, a Bujinha native said that over 100 people had entered the village from the border region. A nearby village is also harbouring displaced people, he said.

The Gambian government has said that it will help the displaced. President Adama Barrow has also ordered increased patrols and vowed to protect the tiny nation "against any potential foreign threat".

A member of the Gambian Red Cross gives emergency supplies to a villager who has fled her home on the border. By MUHAMADOU BITTAYE (AFP)

"The Gambia will neither be used as a launching pad nor allow anyone to enter the country with arms and ammunition," the government stated on Monday.

Casamance rebels, who are accused of trafficking timber and cannabis, have traditionally sought refuge in The Gambia or Guinea-Bissau, which also borders Senegal.

The conflict had mostly lain dormant until Senegal's army last year launched a major offensive aimed at driving out the rebels.

Senegalese President Macky Sall has made achieving "definitive peace" in Casamance a priority of his second term.