In Senegal, the Collective of Casamance Executives show their support for the military operation launched since Sunday, March 13, by the Senegalese army in northern Casamance.
The Senegalese army is conducting an operation to “dismantle the bases of the MFDC faction” of Salif Sadio, along the border with the Gambia. The rebel leader had retained Senegalese soldiers were held hostage after a clash in late January. For Collective of Casamançai executives, this operation should make it possible to secure this area. “The army is continuing its mission because let’s say that the southern zone has already stabilized, it remains north,” explains Moussa Cissé, Secretary General of the Collective of Casamance Chiefs.
This week, the Sant’Egidio community, which is mediating in this conflict, expressed its concerns about the turnaround in the military operation and asked each party to return to a negotiating table. Discussion is not necessarily the only solution, does Cissé think? “We heard all the mediators, honestly it’s time to stop. It is necessary to make sure the area is safe, so that the people who live there can engage in their business. We must put a definitive end to the looting of the area, the timber trade and the traffic of Indian hemp ”.
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