Gunmen killed at least 13 people Saturday in Senegal who were gathering firewood in the forest, the military said. It was the worst attack in years in the West African nation's restive southern region, where a separatist insurgency has dragged on for more than three decades. While no immediate claim of responsibility for the slayings was made, suspicion fell on the separatist group founded in 1982 known as the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance. Saturday's deaths came just hours after the release of two prisoners belonging to the separatist group following negotiations that were mediated by the Community of Sant'Egidio. ———Associated Press writer Mamadou Alpha Diallo in Ziguinchor, Senegal, contributed to this report.

Source: ABC News January 06, 2018 20:43 UTC