Stray bullets whistled past Senegalese villager Modou Badjie and his family as they ran through a cashew forest in the middle of the night to reach neighbouring Gambia.
Badjie, his three wives, many children and extended family members are among more than 690 people who have crossed the border to escape a flare-up in fighting between soldiers and separatists in Senegal’s southern Casamance region, according to government figures.
“Their shots could have hit one of us,” Badjie said in the Gambian village of Upert, some four kilometres (three miles) from the border, where the family took shelter in March. “People ran away because of the fighting and left all their belongings behind,” he said. “We lost everything and are very tired.”
