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Three Senegalese soldiers have died, while another three sustained injuries following an explosion during cannabis clearing in Senegal’s Casamance region.
The Senegalese Armed Forces, in a statement, disclosed that the soldiers encountered the unfortunate fate during an operation to “track down and neutralise armed individuals, combat cannabis cultivation and ensure the safety of the population and their property”.
It said the three soldiers died “in an accidental explosion that occurred early Tuesday morning” while carrying out operations “to destroy cannabis fields along the border with The Gambia”, but did not provide further detail on the nature of the explosion, adding that operations in the area would continue “resolutely”.
It also said that the three wounded soldiers were evacuated and “receiving medical treatment”.
The operation began more than a week ago and has resulted in the “neutralisation of several individuals belonging to armed groups engaged in cannabis cultivation and threatening the peace of the local population”.
The military reported that one soldier was killed and six others wounded in Casamance after military personnel carrying out cannabis clearing operations “engaged with a group of armed individuals in the Kadialock area” last week.
Rebels in Casamance have been accused of illicitly trafficking cannabis and wood, and of seeking refuge in The Gambia or Guinea-Bissau to the south by Senegalese officials.
The region has hosted one of the longest ongoing conflicts in Africa since armed separatists withdrew to the bush after protests in December 1982.
The conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives and devastated the economy, has persisted but on a much-diminished level in recent years.
