Suspected rebels  kill ECOMIG soldier in Foni shooting

“I can confirm on the rebel side that one rebel was shot and his gun was retrieved. We also got causality and that means the person died,” the ECOMIG spokesperson told The Point exclusively.

He said the armed confrontation happened when the ECOMIG Forces under the Senegalese Contingent went to patrol around the Fonis in the West Coast Region to ensure security in the area; but suddenly went under attack by gunmen suspected to be rebels in Foni.

He, however, dismissed speculations that the Senegalese Forces were trying to confiscate logs from a log smuggler, who was transporting logs from Casamance to The Gambia.

He said the Senegalese Contingent was patrolling the Foni Sub-region to ensure peace in the territory.

In early 2017, The Gambia experienced the first democratic change of leadership since independence, ending 22 years of authoritarian rule of former president Yahya Jammeh.

After weeks of political stalemate following presidential elections on 1 December 2016, on January 19 2017, on the first day of his term, President Adama Barrow was inaugurated while in temporary exile in The Gambian Embassy in Senegal; at the time incumbent president Jammeh refused to accept electoral defeat.

However, domestic and international political pressure combined with the threat of military action by an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) finally prompted Jammeh to leave the country, paving the way for the return of President Barrow on 26 January 2017.

The ECOMIG mandate was extended by ECOWAS Heads of States at various times. The Mission comprises 1000 troops from Senegal (750), Nigeria (200) and Ghana (50) - of which 125 are gendarmerie.