'Senegalese Army Up to Banjual Border' The Independent (Banjul) July 19, 2002 Posted to the web July 19, 2002 Banjul After three weeks of intensive search for the MFDC rebels in Casamance, the Chief-of-Staff and commander of the Senegalese Army General Babucarr Gaye has revealed that his soldiers will go up to the Gambian border where many rebels fighters are thought to be seeking refuge. 'We can't overcome the rebels if we do not control our border with The Gambia' said General Gaye, who believes that the rebels are using The Gambia as a launching pad for sporadic operations against Senegalese army patrol units in Casamance. In an interview with the Senegalese daily newspaper LE SOLEIL during his visit to Ziguinchor General Gaye said that the operation, which began in Kolda has been conducted successfully and they were going to shift their theatre of operations up to the Gambian border to complete their objective of neutralising the rebels. He said Senegal's border with The Gambia was very porous and provides a safe haven for rebels, fleeing the rage of the Senegalese army attacks. General Gaye confirmed as he spoke that his men were on the Gambian side of the border, which they consider as a base for MFDC rebels. According to General Gaye they had encountered some difficulties in their operations especially when some unidentified armed men tried to stop them in the locality of Djibidione where several of his men were wounded in the clash. He revealed that an army truck was destroyed after driving over a land mine. He said the MFDC had suffered 'great' losses but denied media reports that more than 500 people suspected to be MFDC supporters were arrested. He added that the Senegalese army was embarking on a three-pronged strategy namely to devise a mechanism to secure the population in the troubled region, to help reconstruct abandoned villages and to permanently thwart and stop the free movement of rebels from the Gambian side of the border. Beran S. Jeng _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~