Soldiers from Senegal and other ECOWAS countries have invaded Gambia and heading to the capital to remove Yahya Jammeh.
Senegalese troops have entered Gambia
Senegalese troops entered neigbouring Gambia on Thursday, an army
spokesman said, as part of a regional effort to support its new
President Adama Barrow in a showdown with longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh,
who has refused to step down.
"We have entered Gambia," Colonel Abdou Ndiaye wrote in a
text message to Reuters, shortly after Barrow, who won election in
December, was sworn in as Gambia's new president in Senegal.
The military intervention, dubbed Operation Restore Democracy, is
being backed by West Africa's regional bloc, ECOWAS, and involves
"significant" land, air and sea resources, according to a Senegalese
army statement.
Senegalese troops entered neigbouring Gambia on Thursday, an army
spokesman said, as part of a regional effort to support its new
President Adama Barrow in a showdown with longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh,
who has refused to step down.
"We have entered Gambia," Colonel Abdou Ndiaye wrote in a
text message to Reuters, shortly after Barrow, who won election in
December, was sworn in as Gambia's new president in Senegal.
The military intervention, dubbed Operation Restore Democracy, is
being backed by West Africa's regional bloc, ECOWAS, and involves
"significant" land, air and sea resources, according to a Senegalese
army statement.
"This action aims to re-establish constitutional legality in Gambia and allow the new elected president to take office," it said, adding that the operation was being carried out under an ECOWAS mandate.
Nigeria, which pre-positioned war planes and helicopters in
Senegal's capital Dakar, is also part of the operation, but it was not
immediately clear if it too had crossed the border.
Ghana has also pledged troops.
However, officials said late Thursday that the troops' advance had
been temporarily halted to allow for a final attempt at mediation, but
would resume again at noon Friday should Jammeh still refuse to cede
power.
West African leaders were due to head to Gambia Friday to take part
in those mediation efforts, Gambia state TV reported, with the
delegation to include the presidents of Liberia, Mauritania and
Guinea-Bissau as well as a UN representative.
Barrow was inaugurated Thursday in a hastily arranged ceremony at
Gambia's embassy in Senegal. The small embassy room held about 40
people, including Senegal's prime minister and the head of Gambia's
electoral commission.
A jumbo TV screen broadcast the swearing in ceremony to several
hundred watching outside the embassy, as Barrow called for international
report not just from ECOWAS but also the African Union and the United
Nations.
"This is a day no Gambian will ever forget," said Barrow, dressed in a flowing white robe.
After Barrow took the oath of office, the UN Security Council
unanimously approved a resolution expressing "full support" to Gambia's
new president and calling on Jammeh to step down, condemning his
attempts to usurp power.
A last-minute revision to the resolution backed efforts by ECOWAS
to ensure that Barrow's election victory on Dec. 1 is respected, using
"political means first".
Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because
negotiations were private, said an initial reference to ECOWAS' use of
"all necessary measures" was dropped and the political reference was
added because some members objected to backing military action.
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