Senegal: Senegal has cut diplomatic ties with Iran and accused Tehran of supplying weapons to Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC)
Senegal has cut diplomatic ties with Iran, accusing Tehran of supplying weapons to separatist rebels in its southern Casamance region, the foreign ministry said.
“Senegal has decided to break off diplomatic relations with the Republic of Iran,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The statement linked the Iranian weapons with an attack on Sunday in Casamance, the latest in a string of such attacks by rebels engaged in one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts, which resulted in the deaths of three Senegalese troops.
‘Iranian bullets’
“The report presented to the president of the Republic [Abdoulaye Wade] by the army chief of staff on recent developments in Casamance has shown that the Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC) was using sophisticated weapons which caused the death of Senegalese soldiers,” the statement said.