Armed clashes in Casamance

Clashes between Senegalese Armed Forces and armed men left at least two soldiers dead Tuesday in the southern Casamance region, until recently, ravaged by a 20-year conflict, a military source told AFP.

"We have had a skirmish with armed men during an operation to destroy a hemp field near Djibidione," close to the border with The Gambia, the military commander of Casamance's main town Ziguinchor, Momodou Sow, told AFP.

He added that the army lost two men and another two were wounded. Sow could not say whether there were any losses on the side of the armed attackers.

From 1982 to 2004 the picturesque river delta was the setting of a drawn-out conflict between seperatist rebels of the Casamance Democratic Forces Movement (MFDC) and government forces.

A peace agreement was signed in 2004 but since then there have been several clashes between the army and unidentified armed groups.

The last time a Senegalese soldier died in such clashes in the Casamance region was in February 2007. He was killed in a shoot-out between government forces and several dissident rebel groups.

There have been relatively few attacks in the Casamance since then although the local population still suffers from exploding mines and robberies by former rebels.

The same groups have also carried out extensive campaigns of intimidation to gain control over land to illegally grow cannabis or reap the profits of the region's abundant fruit trees.