Informal peace over 35-year war

Rebels still hide out in Senegal forests

Toubacouta, Senegal – In Senegal’s southern Casamance region, new houses dot a landscape once dominated by abandoned ruins full of bullet holes, though the spectre of a 35-year conflict still haunts its villages.

Separatist rebels of the Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) began fighting for independence more than three decades ago but have long ceased once frequent attacks on the Senegalese army, which retains a visible presence in the area.

As residents return to previously unsafe areas, many are asking when the conflict will officially end. “I fled to [regional capital] Ziguinchor in 1991, and came back in 2006. We aren’t frightened anymore. Peace has returned,” said Yaya Sane in his village Toubacouta.

Casamance is a culturally distinct area of Senegal, and daily life feels a long way from the conflict’s height when thousands were killed, maimed by mine explosions, or displaced by fighting. “The last attack on the village was in 2000,” noted Lamine Sane, who lives in the same hamlet.

Others have stayed on in cities like Ziguinchor, lacking the money to move back and rebuild their lives.

“Today, there aren’t any robberies, or clashes between the army and the MFDC,” said Moussa Cisse, a community figure involved in efforts for peace. There’s nothing left but to just sit down... to come to a definitive peace deal.”

Dakar’s interest in ending the conflict has grown since the election of President Macky Sall in 2012. The government is pushing development and tourism to move the economy forward. A local official said road, education and agriculture projects were all under way, with more homes and businesses on the grid than ever before. The momentum of peace, he said, was “irreversible”.

But, rebels are still hiding out in the bush. “We don’t dare to go in the forest,” said Sane. That’s where the MFDC guys are, all of them armed.” –