Senegal arrests 30 people at Casamance rebel base

Senegalese police have dismantled a symbolic separatist rebel base in the country's southern Casamance region and arrested 30 people, a security source told AFP onWednesday (October 28, 2026).The area is home to an independence rebellion that has simmered for nearly 44 years and persists today at a low, sporadic intensity.The site, located on the outskirts of the region's main city, Ziguinchor, served as the headquarters for the Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC), which has been fighting since December 1982 for Casamance independence.The Casamance region is largely separated from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia.A security source confirmed to AFP on Wednesday (October 28) that the site was "effectively dismantled" on Tuesday afternoon and that 30 individuals present at the location were taken into custody by the gendarmerie. No further details were provided.According to several Senegalese media outlets, the operation was carried out by the army and gendarmerie at the headquarters of the movement's political wing, which has been fragmented into several factions.Mobile phones, documents, rebel movement flags and other objects were seized.The Casamance rebels are often accused of trafficking timber and cannabis, and are known to seek refuge in neighbouring Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia. Published - October 28, 2026 08:48 pm IST