VISIBLE MILITARY PRESENCE ALONG BARRA-AMDALAYE ROAD

placed there immediately after the reported 30 December 2014 armed attack on state house in Banjul. The soldiers are conducting searches on every vehicle as well as passengers entering and leaving the Gambia. This situation, however, is resulting in delays and scarcity of vehicles to facilitate the movement of people and thus leaving some travelers who live in nearby settlements in the Gambia to walk the relatively shorter distances on foot. Commercial vehicle drivers and passengers alike have also noted the delays in the traffic or movements and the impact it has on their work. Speaking to one traveler at the border crossing at Amdallaye, he explained the tediousness of the journey caused by delays at the numerous check points along the route. Alpha Barry, a resident of Dakar who was returning from a visit to Gambia, said he left Barra very early in the morning and spent hours before reaching the border. While at the border, armed security officials on the Gambian side were also busy screening travelers and searching their luggage. The Senegalese security personnel at the other side of the Karang border were also screening people entering their country from the Gambia. ]]>