Senegal: In Casamance, the MFDC relaunches hostilities

Nine Senegalese soldiers were captured, and two killed, on the southern border of The Gambia, by the Casamance rebels of the MFDC. What could revive hostilities in the region?

Two Senegalese soldiers killed, and nine taken hostage. Here is the report of an attack by the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) against a patrol of MICEGA, the White Helmets mission in Gambia. The soldiers were present in Biwam, in the south of The Gambia, as part of a combing of the forests where the cutting of teak wood, a source of income for the Casamance rebels, is obstructing talks between the Senegalese government and the MFDC .

But with this deliberate attack, the ceasefire negotiations, which began last March, could well come to an end. Especially since the explanations of the rebel group are struggling to convince.

The MFDC recalls to the good memory of Yahya Jammeh

On a video, we see one of the leaders of the MFDC, Salif Sadio, addressing the captured soldiers. His rhetoric, almost that of a pan-African of conviction: “There should be no war between Senegal and Casamance, the United States of Africa could start here”. But, concretely, in the context of a conflict between the State and the rebels, is this discourse credible? The MFDC is, above all, a separatist movement which calls for the split of Senegal. Then, the pro-MFDC media - like Senegal 7 -, with a speech recalling that "the movement is not in conflict with the Gambians", seem much more nostalgic for the Yahya Jammeh era than chagrined by this new escalation of violence.

This new MFDC attack, the first in years, is one of the few taking place on the Gambian border. The fact that the confrontation comes shortly after Adama Barrow's re-election as President of The Gambia is probably not trivial. Since the forced exile of former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh, the MFDC has lost its main support in the region.

Timber trafficking at the center of the Casamance conflict

But it is above all the funding of the MFDC that has been threatened by the change in leadership in The Gambia. Since an initial ceasefire between the MFDC and the Senegalese state in 2014, the rebel movement has been rather passive. The Senegalese government, however, blames the MFDC for occasional attacks since then. At the center of the conflict, the traffic of wood between Casamance and Gambia, the first source of income for the rebels.

However, the forces of MICEGA, belonging to the White Helmets of ECOWAS and composed mostly of Senegalese soldiers, are present in southern Gambia at the request of President Adama Barrow. Only here, with the soldiers preventing the traffic of wood, the MFDC finds itself asphyxiated economically. Another hard blow after the death of the movement's founder, Father Diamacoune Senghor, in 2007. Indeed, since then, the MFDC has been separated into small groups whose operational methods differ. While some prefer political struggle, others – as Monday's attack proves – opt for armed conflict.

Among the latter, therefore, is the faction of Salif Sadio, active in Bwiam, where the attack took place. The MFDC deplores "the incursions of the Senegalese army deployed in the ECOWAS mission from Gambian territory". However, since the self-proclaimed autonomy of Casamance is not recognized by Senegal, this argument would not hold up against the murder and capture of soldiers.

According to the Senegalese army headquarters, 77 trucks illegally transporting wood from Casamance have been stopped on the Gambian border in the past five months. If it is certain that this attack complicates the discussions for the ceasefire, the reaction of the Senegalese army should be commensurate with the attack.

In addition, the Senegalese Minister of the Armed Forces Sidiki Kaba insisted on the secrecy of the military operation aimed at finding and rescuing the nine soldiers taken hostage. For their part, the Gambian military authorities have announced the formation of a task force to assist the Senegalese contingent of MICEGA.