1970s In the late 1970s, a separatist movement first developed in Casamance. Political frustrations mounted from the lack of economic growth for Casamançais people. One of the recurring themes was that Northerners dominated the economy of the region. The administration in Ziguinchor was dominated by Northerners, predominantly of the Wolof ethnic group.
1980s In the 1980s, resentment about the marginalization and exploitation of Casamance by the Senegalese central government gave rise to an independence movement in form of the MFDC, which was officially founded in 1982. This initial movement managed to unite Jola and other ethnic groups in the region, such as
Fulani,
Mandinka and
Bainuk, and led to rising popular resistance against the government and northerners. On December 26, 1982, several hundred protesters gathered in Ziguinchor despite the arrest of most of the demonstration's leaders. The MFDC began to organise demonstrations, and tensions eventually escalated in massive riots in December 1983. On December 6, three gendarmes were killed while intervening at a MFDC meeting near Ziguinchor.
1990s and other separatist groups originally used this vertical white-green-red tricolor as
Casamance's national flag The discovery of oil in the region emboldened the MFDC to organise mass demonstrations for immediate independence in 1990, which were brutally suppressed by the Senegalese military. This pushed the MFDC into a full armed rebellion. The following fighting was vicious, and 30,000 civilians were displaced by 1994. Several
ceasefires were agreed during the 1990s, but none lasted, often also due to splits within the MFDC along ethnic lines and between those ready negotiate and those who refused to lay down their weapons. In 1992 the MFDC divided into two main groups, Front Sud and Front Nord. Whereas Front Sud was dominated by Jola and called for full independence, Front Nord included both Jola as well as non-Jola tribesmen and was ready to work with the government based on a failed agreement of 1991. Another ceasefire in 1993 led to the break-off of hardline rebel groups from the MFDC. These continued to attack the military. In 1994,
Yahya Jammeh took power in
the Gambia through a
coup d'état. Jammeh would start to provide the MFDC with substantial support, The Senegalese military relocated thousands of soldiers from the northern provinces to Casamance in 1995 in an attempt to finally crush the uprising. The northern soldiers often mistreated the local population and did not differentiate between those who supported the rebels and government loyalists. By this time, the rebels had established bases in
Guinea-Bissau, reportedly being supplied with arms by Bissau-Guinean
military commander Ansumane Mané. Mané's alleged support for the separatists was one factor which led to the
Guinea-Bissau Civil War that erupted in 1998. When Senegal decided to send its military into Guinea-Bissau to fight for the local government against Mané's forces, the latter and the MFDC formed a full alliance. The two rebel movements started to fight side by side in both Senegal as well as Guinea-Bissau. Although the Senegal-supported government of Guinea-Bissau collapsed, the following MFDC-sympathetic regime was also overthrown in May 1999. Meanwhile, tensions within the MFDC resulted in rebel leader Salif Sadio killing 30 of his rivals; however, one of his main opponents among the insurgents, Caesar Badiatte, survived an assassination attempt. Its results proved partial, and armed clashes between the MFDC and the army continued in 2006, prompting thousands of civilians to flee across the border to the Gambia. At the same time, the MFDC factions of Sadio and Badiatte also fought each other. In October 2010, an illegal shipment of arms from
Iran was seized in
Lagos,
Nigeria. The Senegalese government suspected that the arms were destined for the Casamance, and recalled its ambassador to
Tehran over the matter. Heavy fighting occurred in December 2010 when about 100 MDFC fighters attempted to take Bignona south of the Gambian border supported by heavy weapons, such as mortars and machine guns. They were repulsed with several casualties by Senegalese soldiers who suffered seven dead in the engagement. On 21 December 2011, Senegal media reported that 12 soldiers were killed in Senegal's Casamance region following a separatist rebel attack on an army base near the town of Bignona. Three soldiers were killed during a clash 50 kilometers (31 mi) north of
Ziguinchor. The Senegalese government blamed the conflict on separatists in the region on February 14, 2012. Two attacks occurred on 11 and 23 March 2012, leaving 4 soldiers killed and 8 injured. Since April 2012, peace in the Casamance has been a top priority for the administration of
Senegalese President Macky Sall. On 3 February 2013, four people were killed during a bank robbery perpetrated by the MFDC in the town of Kafoutine; the rebels stole a total of $8,400. On 1 May 2014, one of the leaders of the MFDC, Salif Sadio, sued for peace and declared a unilateral ceasefire after secret talks held at the Vatican between his forces and the Government of Senegal led by Macky Sall. Jammeh ultimately fled, resulting in
Adama Barrow becoming the Gambia's president; he was known as being close to Macky Sall, meaning that the MFDC lost an important foreign ally. Leaders of the MFDC, however, have denied responsibility for the execution-style killing, which they say was connected with the illegal harvesting of teak wood and rosewood from the forested region, not the gathering of firewood.
2020s By 2020, most MFDC factions, including those of Badiate and Sadio, were still upholding ceasefires. In April of that year, tensions in the MFDC's Sikoun faction operating in the
Goudomp Department resulted in a split. Diatta, until then leader of the faction, fell under suspicions of being in contact with the government. Adama Sané consequently assumed command of the Sikoun faction, even though Diatta maintained his own following. Both the military as well as the rebels claimed to have inflicted casualties on each other. In January 2022, MFDC rebels attacked Senegalese soldiers operating as part of the
ECOWAS mission in the Gambia, killing four and capturing seven. Though the prisoners were later released, the Senegalese military took this incident as reason for launching an operation against the Sadio faction which operated at the Senegalese-Gambian border. The offensive started on 13 March 2022, and caused 6,000 civilians to flee across the border into the Gambia. In early August 2022, Caesar Badiatte signed a peace deal with the Senegalese government following mediation by Guinea-Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embaló. Though Badiatte only agreed on behalf of his faction, the government expressed hope that other MFDC groups would join the agreement. On 16 January 2023, the Senegalese military clashed with MFDC rebels near
Bignona during an operation to disrupt rebel attempts to set up new bases at the Gambian border. One soldier was killed and four wounded. The military continued anti-insurgent sweeps at the border over the next months. In May 2023, Fatoma Coly's forces -about 250 fighters- surrendered, with President Macky Sall's government subsequently organizing their reintegration into civil society. In December 2023, four soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a rebel anti-tank mine in the Bignona area. On 25 February 2025, Senegalese Prime Minister
Ousmane Sonko declared that he had reached an agreement with MFDC elements to end the conflict following talks hosted and mediated by
Guinea-Bissau. Similar to the 2022 deal, the agreement was signed between the Senegalese government and the Badiatte faction, with latter agreeing to disarm. In contrast, the MFDC's Sadio faction did not agree to the deal. ==References==