Casamance/Senegal — More than 6,000 people have fled their homes in Gambia and Senegal following clashes between Senegalese soldiers and separatists near the Gambian border earlier this month, Gambia’s government said Tuesday.
The Senegalese military launched an operation on March 13 against rebels fighting for independence in the West African country’s southern Casamance region, which borders Gambia.
Fighting pushed 691 people in Casamance to cross over and seek refuge in Gambia, a tiny nation of around 2 million inhabitants almost entirely surrounded by Senegal, said its National Disaster Management Agency in an assessment of the aftermath.
A further 5,626 people were displaced within the Gambia itself after Senegalese bullets landed in border villages.