Two U.S. citizens have been charged in the U.S. for attempting to overthrow the government of Gambia by staging a coup on December 30 last year.
Papa Faal, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Gambia, left the U.S. on December 3 for Gambia. Cherno Njie, a U.S. citizen of Gambian descent and a resident of Austin, Texas, left the U.S. on December 19, according to an affidavit submitted to a U.S. court.
According to the affidavit, about 30 weapons, including M4 and AKM assault rifles hidden in 50-gallon barrels, as well as night vision goggles and military style uniforms, were shipped to Gambia prior to the attempted coup.
The affidavit states that a group of plotters, which according to the BBC was comprised of up to 12 people, met in the woods near the presidential palace in Gambia on December 30 before dawn.
The group was divided into two teams. “Alpha” team was to breach the front door of the palace with a vehicle, while “Beta” team was supposed to block the rear of the building.
The plotters believed that soldiers guarding Gambian President Yahya Jammeh would flee or switch sides instead of fighting.
They arrived at the State House to find that the garrison there had been reinforced. Alpha team fired a shot in the air hoping to get the soldiers to give up. To their surprise, the guards responded with heavy gunfire, killing perhaps all of the Alpha team members.
Faal hid in a nearby building where he changed into civilian clothes. He managed to escape to Senegal, where he went to the U.S. embassy in Dakar. Faal was questioned at the embassy, resulting in his arrest and that of Njie, the alleged mastermind, who had returned to the U.S. via Dakar on January 3.
President Jammeh denounced the coup as an attack by a terrorist group backed by unnamed foreign powers, according to the Guardian.
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