Senegal forces demolish Gambia border fence, prompting diplomatic row

On 16 July, Senegalese army units used a bulldozer to tear down a newly built perimeter fence at the Gambian military post in Bulock, near the disputed border. The Gambian government called the act “deeply provocative and unacceptable,” while Senegal said it was responding to repeated incursions affecting its territorial integrity. Both sides urged calm and stressed the need for dialogue.

Two days later, Senegalese gendarmerie officers entered the Gambian village of Jimbala Kerr Musa in the Central River Region, ordering local farmers to abandon their fields and threatening arrest. The officers claimed the farmland belonged to Senegal, whereas villagers asserted the land had been cultivated by Gambian families for generations. The incidents have intensified long‑standing border tensions between the two neighbours.