Dozens of Gambians have fled border villages, fear-ing 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 op-eration 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.
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 situa-tion,” 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.—APP
