13 killed, 7 wounded by gunmen in restive Senegal region
DAKAR, Senegal — Gunmen killed at least 13 people Saturday in Senegal who were gathering firewood in the forest, the military said. It was the worst attack in years in the West African nation’s restive southern region, where a separatist insurgency has dragged on for more than three decades.
The bloodshed sparked fears of renewed unrest in the area, which had been relatively calm for the last several years.
Col. Abdoul Ndiaye said late Saturday that seven others were wounded in the massacre 4 miles (7 kilometres) outside of the town of Ziguinchor, and the military stepped up its presence near the town. Casamance is separated from the rest of Senegal by the nation of Gambia.
While no immediate claim of responsibility for the slayings was made, suspicion fell on the separatist group founded in 1982 known as the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance.