Senegal's army overran a rebel stronghold in the restive southern region of Casamance but failed to capture the leader of the insurgents, the West African country's army said on Friday, Reuters reported. Senegal's armed forces, which have been battling a low-level rebellion in Casamance since 1982, took control of the base at Tambaff which served as a headquarters for Salif Sadio's Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC). The army declined to say if there were casualties on either side but said the rebel leader had escaped. "Tambaff base, the command post of rebel leader Salif Sadio, was toured on Friday by a delegation from the army chief of staff along with ten local reporters," army spokesman Colonel Antoine Wardini said. Casamance is a fertile region, rich in cashew nuts, fisheries, rice fields and palm-oil plantations, sandwiched between Gambia to the north and GuineaBissau to the south. It has long been one of Senegal's main tourist attractions.
