Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Guinea-Bissau
  • News

Senegal to complete troop withdrawal today

    ABIDJAN

    Senegal announced it would complete its troop withdrawal from Guinea Bissau today in line with the Abuja peace accord that ended an eight-month military rebellion against President Joao Bernardo Vieira, news reports said.

    The Senegalese army yesterday started loading equipment aboard three boats, according to AFP. Reuters quoted the Senegalese military as saying in a communique that “as from March 16, 1999, the last units of the Senegalese contingent in Guinea Bissau will have returned home.”

    Senegal deployed between 2,500 and 3,000 troops in Guinea Bissau after a section of the army revolted in June 1998. Guinea also sent troops. Under an agreement reached among the belligerents, all foreign troops must leave Guinea Bissau by today, except ECOMOG, the West Africa peacekeeping force that is replacing the Guineans and Senegalese.

    So far, 600 ECOMOG troops from Benin, The Gambia, Niger and Togo have been deployed in Guinea Bissau. Mali has announced that it will contribute 125 troops to ECOMOG, RTM radio in Bamako reported last week.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join