REBELS KILL 4 SENEGALESE SOLDIERS

Dakar, Feb. 1: Separatist rebels have killed four Senegalese soldiers and are holding seven hostage after a clash on the border between Senegal and The Gambia last week, the Senegalese army said in a statement.

Three soldiers died in the fighting on January 24 between the Senegalese army and rebels from the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), it said late on Monday. A fourth died from wounds several days later.

Seven soldiers are being held hostage by the MFDC, and all are “alive and in good health”, the army said. The MFDC is behind a low-intensity breakaway conflict in Senegal’s southern region of Casamance that dates back to 1982 and has claimed several thousand lives.

A previous tally said two soldiers were killed and nine were missing, but the army said all were now accounted for.