Strictly speaking, the head of the cabinet referred to “all military bases” in his country, but singled out those of France, the former metropolis, which in recent years had to evacuate contingents it had in some of its former African possessions.

It is time for Senegal to manage its own defense and territory without external influences, said the head of the cabinet after clarifying that the decision was taken by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye as part of the desire to strengthen the autonomy of national security.

Hours ago, a bitter controversy broke out in this western African country after the Minister of the Presidency, Chtreeikh Oumar Diagne, called the Senegalese who formed part of the Rifle Corps formed by the metropolis, which fought against the Nazi army in World War II, traitors.

They fought against their African brothers during anti-colonial uprisings and revolts, the minister said; in contrast, the historian Mamadou Fall took the side of the military and highlighted their “suffering and heroism, which is why they should be considered heroes rather than traitors.”

The historical clash arises on the 80th anniversary of the Thiaroye massacre, a fact that has so far been absent from history books, which the president of this western African country, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, proposes to include in the texts used in schools. In 1944, Senegalese soldiers who had fought on the side of the Allies in World War II formed a mutiny at the Thiaroye military camp, demanding recognition of their rights and payment of their wages during the time they were held captive by the Germans.

The uprising angered the French colonial authorities, who mobilized their troops with orders to suppress it with blood and fire, an order that resulted in the death of up to 300 veterans, according to Senegalese figures, and 35 according to reports from the mother country.

ef/lam/msl