Suspected Casamance rebels disrupt religious festival in Senegalese village

Ziguinchor, Senegal (PANA) - Suspected rebels of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) have disrupted the annual Gamou (religious event) in the village of Brikama, located about 50km east of Ziguinchor in Senegal, with an attack.

In the overnight (Friday) attack, the gunmen targeted pilgrims whom they stripped of their personal belongings, looted many shops and took heads of cattle as they withdrew to the border with Guinea-Bissau.

According to residents of the village, some of the villagers who were forced to carry the loot have so far not returned home.

The Senegalese army intervened on Friday morning to provide security in the locality, where several people were injured in the stampede that followed the shots fired by the rebels.

Reliable sources indicate that the attackers belong to one of the factions of the armed wing of the MFDC, whose leader, Ousmane Diatta Niantang, is reportedly in Spain for medical treatment.
-0- PANA MAD/SSB/JEN/SEG 13May2012