By KEMO CHAM

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The relationship between Gambia and Senegal could be tested again after Senegalese forces battled separatist forces on Gambian soil in a sporadic fight three days ago.

And nine Senegalese soldiers have since gone missing, according to officials in Dakar. While the Senegalese government said it was an operation against timber smugglers, local Gambian residents say it was a battle with forces of the MFDC rebel group, a separatist movement.

That has left many Gambians unsettled and they are demanding a review of the relations between the two countries. The Gambian government of President Adama Barrow has kept mum about the incident three days after the clashes were first reported on Monday.

The war of independence by the MFDC in southern Senegal, which shares a border with Gambia, was a source of problem between former President Yahya Jammeh and Senegalese leaders who accuse the former of supporting the rebels.

Whether this could test the ties of the two countries, now under different leaders is yet to be seen. But Barrow’s tenure has been largely seen as friendly to Dakar.