The Senegalese army has announced the death of two of its soldiers in western Gambia, on the border with Casamance. Nine other soldiers have been missing since January 24, 2022.
A violent collision would have opposed “soldiers of the West African mission in Gambia (Ecomig) to presumed Casamance rebels during an operation against timber trafficking”, said a statement from the Senegalese army. The nine Senegalese soldiers “are probably held hostage by the MFDC”continues the press release.
The MFDC is the armed rebellion that has been fighting for nearly 40 years for the independence of Casamance, a region in southern Senegal bordering The Gambia. “During the clashes following vigorous military action, one rebel was killed and three others were taken prisoner”, indicates the Senegalese army. These clashes with suspected rebels occurred”as part of an action to secure and fight against illicit trafficking, in particular against the criminal exploitation of timber on the border fringe with The Gambia”specifies the same press release.
“During the last five months, 77 trucks illegally transporting timber from Senegal have been immobilized by the Senegalese detachment deployed within the International Force in The Gambia.”
Press release from the Senegalese armyat AFP
The Mission of the Economic Community of West African States in The Gambia (Ecomig) was established following the political crisis born of the refusal of the former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to leave power after his defeat in the presidential election of December 2016. The dictator was finally forced into exile in January 2017 by international pressure and the entry of Senegalese troops on Gambian soil.
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According to a study by the Environmental Investigation Agency (IEA) from 2019, The Gambia bases a large part of its economy on the timber trade. In 2017 alone, this wood accounted for around 50% of its exports.
According to this report disputed by the Casamance separatists, the smuggling of rosewood begins in Senegal, where the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) cuts down the trees and sells them illegally to neighboring Gambia, in order to finance its fight for peace. ‘independence (…).“With Jammeh as an ally and the Gambia-based Westwood company as a trade facilitator, the MFDC was able to exercise a monopoly on the timber trade in Lower Casamance by using the profits from this trade to finance its armed struggle” is it written in the report of the NGO Trial International
Casamance elected officials and environmentalists regularly denounce the involvement of Gambians in timber trafficking in Casamance, often blamed on MFDC rebels. What has been proven, however, is that rosewood, illegally cut in Casamance and exported from Gambia to China, was one of the main sources of funding for former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh.
From 2013 to 2017, Yahya Jammeh’s Gambia exported more than 600 000 tons of rosewood. This is the equivalent of a million trees shipped to China whose value is estimated at 300 million dollars, specifies a BBC investigation.
The election in Gambia of a new president close to the Senegalese government had raised hopes that this large-scale looting would stop. It has not happened. Figures the BBC has obtained show that exports of rosewood from Gambian territory to China have continued since 2017 when new President Adama Barrow came to power.