Clash reported between army and suspected rebels

Three people died and eight were wounded in clashes on Tuesday in the department of Ziguinchor, southern Senegal, between the national army and a group of armed men, news organisations reported. ‘Sud Quotidien’, an independent daily in Dakar, reported on Thursday that the fighting took place in Dialang, a village some 20 km southeast of the town of Ziguinchor. The newspaper said the assailants had intercepted public transport vehicles along the road between Ziguinchor and Cap Skiring, near the border with Guinea-Bissau, and robbed the occupants of their valuables. An alarm was raised and an army detachment was sent to the area. Three soldiers were wounded in the ensuing shootout, in which three of the assailants were killed and five wounded, ‘Sud Quotidien’ reported. It said the assailants were suspected members of the Mouvement des Forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC). The MFDC has been fighting for about two decades for an independent state in the Casamance area, which includes Ziguinchor. According to the daily, there have been about four attacks against public transport vehicles and military positions since late August in the area between Ziguinchor and Cap Skiring.