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Senegalese troops have entered The Gambia to force out the country’s defiant former President Yahya Jammeh.
The development came hours after Adama Barrow, a property developer
who won the country’s presidential election in December, was sworn in at
a Gambian embassy in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
Mr. Jammeh refused to quit despite calls from ECOWAS and the African
Union for him to do so. The United Nations also supported calls for Mr.
Jammeh to quit and backed Mr. Barrow’s presidency effective Thursday, January 19, 2017.
The recognition of Mr. Barrow as the president of The Gambia marked
the end of Mr. Jammeh’s 22-year reign in the West African country.
He secured an emergency approval from the country’s parliament for
his tenure to be extended for another 90 days, but the resolution was
frowned upon by the international community.
Senegalese media quoted the country’s military chief as saying that
their troops have entered The Gambia to take out Mr. Jammeh and install
Mr. Barrow.
“The Senegalese soldiers entered The Gambia on Thursday afternoon,” Abdou
Ndiaye, the spokesman for the Senegalese Army was quoted by local media
in Dakar as saying, according to the BBC.
The Nigerian military also confirmed on Thursday that its “armed reconnaissance air force are over Gambia.”
“They have the capacity to strike,” Nigerian Air Force spokesman Ayodele Famuyiwa told the French newswire, AFP.
Gambian military officials have reportedly said they will not resist
any foreign incursion into the country to remove Mr. Jammeh, saying the
impasse is a political matter that they will not intervene in.
Mr. Barrow had warned in his inauguration speech that anyone “found illegally holding arms will be considered as a rebel.”
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PLEASE BE POLITE