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Gambia: Hostilities flare-up in Casamance, as splinter group attacks rebels

ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal: Using motorized wooden boats, a rebel faction invaded the jungle camp of another rebel group, renewing hostilities in Senegal's troubled Casamance region.

Ansoumana Badji, the former head of the Movement of the Democratic Forces of Casamance, known as MFDC, said the fighting erupted Sunday in Koureg, a camp near the Gambian border.

The lush jungle area is crisscrossed by swamps and the enemy faction attacked the camps in boats, attempting to seize the bases of MFDC commander Salif Sadio, said Badji in a telephone interview Thursday. Both groups claim to be fighting for an independent Casamance.

He said the attack appeared to be aimed at retaking the bases, which the MFDC had seized from the splinter group in a deadly confrontation in April 2006.

"We don't yet have an official death toll, but there is talk of many victims, especially among Salif's men. Two of his camps in the forests of Koureg have fallen under enemy control," said Badji.

Police Chief Talla Diop, who heads the regional police force headquartered in Ziguinchor, confirmed the fighting between the rebel groups.

"The rebels are fighting each other using machine guns. The clashes have been intense. We don't yet have a death toll," said Diop.

More than 1,200 people have been killed since the Movement of the Democratic Forces of Casamance began fighting in 1983.

The rebels say France, Senegal's colonial ruler until 1960, never conquered Casamance and so the region should be independent. France and Senegal both dispute the claim.