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Gambian Coup Plotters Blackmail Military Accomplices to 'Complete Mission' to Overthrow Yahya Jammeh

Self-described “Freedom Fighters” say senior Gambian military officials participated in the coup attempt, threatening to release proof of their role in 48 hours unless Jammeh is removed.
Photo by AP/Rebecca Blackwell

The self-described "Freedom Fighters" behind the failed attempt to overthrow longtime Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh on December 23 have issued a warning to members of the Gambian National Army (GNA) who they say were also involved in the coup plot, giving them 48 hours to finish the job or face the public release of evidence that will allegedly implicate high-level army officials who supported the plan.

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According to a press release circulating through the Gambian diaspora, the Freedom Fighters claim that all of the group's surviving insurgents have made it safely out of the country and are accounted for. The release accuses senior and mid-level GNA soldiers of being part of the attempted ouster, calling for those who were involved to move forward and complete the overthrow.

"We are therefore urging all those GNA members who decided to endanger the lives of their colleagues to go ahead and complete the mission, otherwise their identities and all incriminating evidence will be revealed for all see," the statement reads, saying they will release incriminating emails, text messages, and phone conversation records if the soldiers in question do not comply.

Gambian president returns home amid fears of brutal backlash after foiled coup. Read more here.

Whether these allegations are valid or not, naming names and implicating individuals in the coup could be perilous for any GNA members who are accused of being involved. Jammeh is known for brutal crackdowns that followed attempted coups in 2006 and 2009, which led to reports of mass arrests and executions. Eleven accused participants were arrested after the 2006 overthrow attempt, while eight army and police officials were handed death sentences for their alleged roles in the 2008 plot.

Just as many activists feared would happen after the December 23 coup fell apart, reports from the ground indicate that soldiers loyal to Jammeh have begun arresting and detaining opposition members.

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Jeffrey Smith, an advocacy officer at the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, told VICE News that the mass arrests taking place in The Gambia were not a surprise, given Jammeh's track record.

"[It's] not at all surprising for a regime that has made arbitrary arrests and detention, as well as torture and extrajudicial killings, the order of the day for the past twenty years," Smith said.

Sources say one of those arrested included the mother and brother of the accused coup leader Lamin Sanneh, a former Gambian army commander. The two are reportedly in custody of the notorious National Intelligence Agency in the capital city of Banjul.

Sanneh was reportedly leading the charge in an attack on the presidential palace in the capital, one of many key strategic locations targeted by the coup orchestrators while Jammeh was out of the country. Accounts of the events that followed are conflicting, but as the insurgents made their way to the palace before dawn on Tuesday, gunfight broke out between the attackers and soldiers who remained loyal to the regime. During the clash, Sanneh and three others — including a Gambian dissident soldier who had been in the US Army— were killed while the rest were forced to retreat across the border into Senegal.

As reports of the coup emerged, Jammeh made his way back to the Gambia, making a pit stop in Chad before finally landing in the capital. He appeared on Gambian state television to give an address on Wednesday, where he said the coup attackers had entered the country through Senegal, which surrounds the small African country from the north, south, and east. The Gambia's borders have been closed off since the coup attempt.

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Gambian ex-soldiers attempted a coup while president Yahya Jammeh was out of town. Read more here.

The 49-year-old leader, who rose to power in 1994 in a coup of his own, used the New Year's Eve speech to warn that he will make an "example" out of coup participants. Despite reports that GNA members were involved in the coup, Jammeh stressed in his speech that troops had been loyal, instead blaming dissidents in the United States, Germany, and the UK for waging the attack.

"The Gambian armed forces are very loyal as far as we are concerned — there isn't any single participation of the armed forces except nullifying the attack," Jammeh said. "This cannot be called a military coup — this was an attack by a terrorist group backed by some powers that I would not name."

The US State Department pushed back at any suggestion that the American government was behind the plot. "The U.S. government had absolutely no role in the events that took place in Banjul," an official remarked to Reuters.

In an apparent exhibition of loyalty, video footage broadcast on the state-run Gambia Radio and Television Service showed dozens of Gambian soldiers breaking down into pushups as Jammeh stepped out of a vehicle in his standard all-white uniform.

Jammeh also took to national television to display dozens of weapons that he said had been seized during the coup.

In the wake of this week's violence, the US government has condemned the coup attempt and the United Nations has called on Jammeh to investigate the events that occurred. While remaining neutral in the situation, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the regime to "act in full respect of human rights."

Follow Kayla Ruble on Twitter: @RubleKB