NAIROBI — Senegal announced that its troops entered neighboring Gambia on Thursday to force its longtime ruler, Yahya Jammeh, to step down, part of a bold West African regional effort to defend a democratic election won by the opposition.
The operation was announced after the successor chosen by voters last month, Adama Barrow, took the oath of office from exile in the Senegalese capital.
“We have entered Gambia,” Senegalese army Col. Abdou Ndiaye wrote in a text message to the Reuters news agency. Videos of camouflaged Senegalese tanks and Humvees driving toward the Gambian border circulated on social media. But news reports later said that the operation was halted until Friday afternoon to allow a group of West African heads of state to attempt a final negotiation with Jammeh.
Source:-Washingtonpost
The operation was announced after the successor chosen by voters last month, Adama Barrow, took the oath of office from exile in the Senegalese capital.
“We have entered Gambia,” Senegalese army Col. Abdou Ndiaye wrote in a text message to the Reuters news agency. Videos of camouflaged Senegalese tanks and Humvees driving toward the Gambian border circulated on social media. But news reports later said that the operation was halted until Friday afternoon to allow a group of West African heads of state to attempt a final negotiation with Jammeh.
Source:-Washingtonpost
