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Nigeria in Air Surveillance Over Gambia in Preparation for ECOWAS Intervention

Sputnik News

21:54 19.01.2017(updated 22:02 19.01.2017)

Troops deployed by other countries are stationed in different locations, particularly close to the border between Senegal and Gambia for easy advancement in the event of any call for military action, according to a military source cited by local media.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Nigerian military aircraft have started surveillance operations over The Gambia in preparation for a possible intervention in case the country's embattled president, Yahya Jammeh, continues refusing to step down and violence erupts, local media reported Thursday.

Nigerian air force planes and helicopters flew over The Gambia while Nigerian troops were deployed to an army base in Senegal in support of a planned Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) operation in the country, Nigeria's The Nation newspaper reported, citing military sources.

"Troops deployed by other countries are stationed in different locations, particularly close to the border between Senegal and Gambia for easy advancement in the event of any call for military action…. We learned that some diplomatic stuffs are still ongoing, but if it failed there may be deployment of troops and possible air strike on the logistics base of the Jammeh. For now, the land and air component are on full alert and standby," the source said.

Earlier in the day, Adama Barrow was sworn in as the Gambian president at the country's embassy in neighboring Senegal, while Jammeh continued to refuse to step down.

The Gambian presidential election was held on December 1, 2016. On December 10, Jammeh rejected the outcome of the election and filed a petition to the Supreme Court, refusing to step down until the court hears his case. He claimed the country faced foreign interference and declared a state of emergency while the Gambian parliament extended his term for 90 days.

On Friday, the African Union urged Jammeh to transfer power to Barrow peacefully. ECOWAS has approved military intervention by Senegal in case violence erupted in Gambia. Senegal, backed by Nigeria, has been amassing troops on the Gambian border.

© Sputnik