Six soldiers were killed in a rocket attack marking the latest flare-up of suspected separatist violence in Senegal's Casamance region, an army spokesman said today.
The attack took place late last night in the Niagha district close to the West African country's border with Guinea-Bissau.
"It is with regret that I confirm we lost six of our men," spokesman Ousmane Sarr said, adding that three others were wounded in the attack on a unit returning from a patrol.
It came a day after gunmen killed one person and wounded three in an attack on a taxi in Casamance, still a tourist hotspot despite decades of low-level insurgency by the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC).
Suspected MFDC guerrillas killed a soldier in an attack last month on an army outpost near the regional capital Ziguinchor. Two people died in an attack on a bus in August.
The rebels accuse the government of neglecting Casamance. Numerous deals have failed to secure lasting peace for the region, which is also an important grain producer.
Analysts worry that tensions in Guinea -- where authorities killed scores of anti-government protesters in a security crackdown on Monday -- may unsettle neighbouring countries such as Senegal, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Reuters