Kanilai Standoff: ‘No Cause For Alarm’

Entrance to Yahya Jammeh’s Kanilai home

A confrontation between Gambian soldiers and the ECOWAS Military Intervention Mission in the Gambia (ECOMIG) at Kanilai left three Gambian soldiers injured. The seriousness of the injuries has not been made public.

But the Gambian army Spokesman says “there is no cause for panic or alarm” as the situation is under control.

The incident, according to Kairo News sources, resulted after the ECOMIG soldiers on a weapon search mission at Kanilai weapons were denied entrance former President Yahya Jammeh’s residence. Gambian soldiers insisted they would only allow access to the residence provided they receive orders from the top army command,” our source said.

What could have been amicably solved soon escalated into firing of warning shots by the ECOMIG soldiers. Gambian soldiers responded in a like manner resulting to a confrontation during which two soldiers were shot on their legs.

However, it is not confirmed whether the discharge of weapon negligent or deliberate.

“But the matter has been resolved and there is no cause for panic,” the army Spokesman Lt. Col. told The  Standard, assuring that the incident will be jointly investigated by a board to determine what provoked the incident. “But actually it was just a simple misunderstanding that has been properly handled and taken care of. There is absolutely no cause for panic or alarm.”

Ends

3 Comments

  1. What does, ‘There is absolutely no cause for panic or alarm’, means to Gambians?
    Was it possible for Ecomig to proceed on their weapons search mission?
    No, that’s not a question to worry about! What to worry about is;
    Wasn’t Kaninlai screened and placed under the surveillance of the Ecomig central command?
    Why did it take all this long for Kaninlai to be kept a mysterious secret?
    Is military hardware of the Gambia armed forces accounted for to the last last grenade, bullet and bayonet?
    Shouldn’t citizenship statuses of all Kaninlai residency and elsewhere deemed necessary be thoroughly verified?
    The fact that we are all Africans and ECOWAS citizens for this matter is an undisputable fact, at the same time an irrefutable fact that ECOWAS states subjects cannot be involved in cross border trade of violence. Any conspiracy from wherever it is masterminded in the Kaninlai predicament must be brought to light if, indeed the Barrow government have any urge at all to push the democratic process of the Gambia any stronger or further standards.

  2. Ibrahim s

    Kanilai shooting is under investigation by both side ECOMIG and GAF. I don’t want to jump into conclusion but this my perspective GAF men involved in shootout with ECOMIG FORCES could be YAHYA AJJ JAMMEH’S loyalist trying to test the ECOMIG forces lead by Senegalese soldiers to see whether to try them and see their strengths. As a former GAF, we always said when we are more trained than Senegalese soldiers so anytime we are invade by Senegalese soldiers we will show them how mighty and we’ll trained we are. So this political impasse, my fellow colleagues of GAF failed the Gambians and our Constitution for defending our country by standing up against dictator YAHYA AJJ JAMMEH. So on that note our brothers and sisters from senegal, Nigeria , Ghana and other Ecowas military came in to intervened and liberated our country and maintain. So now if some sheeps in wolves clothes in GAF want to try and test the swift respond firepower from the mighty Senegalese soldiers under ECOMIG in kanilai, please do so but Senegalese soldiers under the ECOMIG FORCES will not going allow such to happen to them. ECOMIG forces are in the Gambia not occupying forces but international military mission just like some of Gambian soliders in Darfur, Liberia and sierra leone. Why resistING them entering kanilai?

  3. Ibrahim s

    My fellow GAF and the Gambia security apparatus should know that Allah and the Gambian people make this change so it is imperative for them to accept the will of Allah and fully pledge allegiance to president Adama Barrow’s government. There are many within GAF and other security apparatus who are sheeps in wolves clothes and they hate to see Yahya Ajj jammeh gone. So they will keep on sabotagize the new government and ECOMIG forces mission by resisting them to enter which will eventually resulting to kind of avoidable shooting happened in kanilai. President Adama Barrow should extend ECOMIG forces present in the Gambia because my former fellow GAF are not to be trusted. I always have a clear information within my fellow former colleagues within the GAF who said and worry about after ECOMIG forces left next month. So president Adama Barrow you are far from secure and the entire Gambians because Yahya Ajj jammeh has so many secret military hardware burial in some secret sites in foni and his loyalists within the GAF knows it and they are quiet about it till ECOMIG forces say good bye .

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