Operation North Bignona destroys 18 rebel bases and 140 tons of hemp
Senegal's army says its March 2022 Operation North Bignona destroyed 18 separatist bases and 140 tons of hemp near the Gambian border. One soldier was killed and eight wounded; several rebels were also killed. The army accuses the MFDC rebels of funding their insurgency through cannabis.
🇸🇳 Bignona department, Casamance, near the Gambian border · Senegal
On 13 March 2022 Senegal’s army launched an operation in Casamance to dismantle the bases of separatist rebels, and on 23 March it announced that several rebel bases had been totally destroyed or occupied.[1]One soldier was killed and eight were wounded in the operation, and several rebels were also killed, the army said without giving a number.[1]
A US Africa Command magazine later described the March 2022 push, Operation North Bignona, as destroying 18 rebel bases and 140 tons of hemp, along with weapons caches and stolen vehicles, and arresting traffickers.[2]The targets belonged to the Salif Sadio faction of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), which has fought a separatist conflict in southern Senegal since 1982.[1]Officials accuse the rebels of trafficking timber and cannabis and of sheltering across the borders in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.[1][2]
The offensive followed a clash on 24 January in which four Senegalese soldiers were killed and seven were captured and taken across the border to The Gambia, with the rebels releasing the hostages the following month.[1]
Case data
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On 30 October 2026 Senegal's navy raided cannabis-growing sites at Boune and Bocko in the Karone Islands, burning fields and seizing 37 bags of cannabis and four 20-litre containers of seeds. No arrests were made as the growers had fled before troops arrived.
Senegal's armed forces said commando troops destroyed seven fields of chanvre indien on 17 October 2026 in North Sindian, south-east of Tandine in Bignona department, as part of border security work in Casamance. No arrests were reported.
Military Zone No. 5 ran a joint security sweep on Salindiyaye in the Karones archipelago on 8 October 2026 and found several chanvre indien fields. The navy base at Ziguinchor and gendarmes took part; no one was arrested and searches continued.
On 25 June 2025 Interior Minister Jean-Baptiste Tine said defence and security forces had destroyed about 400 hectares of cannabis in the Karone Islands of Casamance and seized some 4,000 kg in a two-phase campaign that year; a mid-June phase alone reported 12 arrests.
