A week long army offensive against rebel bases in southern Senegal has left 200 rebels dead, a state-run news agency said this afternoon.
The casualties came in clashes in the villages of Djibidione and Sindian in the province of Casamance near the Gambian border, the Senegalese News Agency said. A number of villages were partly or completely burned down in the fighting.
The army has not commented on the rebel death toll, but military sources said one army captain was killed and three soldiers lightly wounded while on patrol near Djibidione last week.
An independent daily, Le Matin, says that a "large number of wounded soldiers" involved in the offensive had been rushed to a hospital in the regional capital of Ziguinchor.
Rebels in Casamance have been fighting for independence since 1983. Both sides signed a cease-fire three months ago, but sporadic attacks have continued.
The latest fighting has sent more than 2,000 civilians fleeing across the border into Gambia, the United Nations' refugee agency said.